Make Me Worth Something Greater
by Vaylencity
Summary: A chance meeting, but it changed everything for two people. Without realizing, the young boy allowed his heart to be captured by the daughter of his enemy. "I will protect you no matter what. That's a promise that I plan on keeping."
1. Prologue

**_Make Me Worth Something Greater_**

 ** _Prologue_**

The sound of a violin being played beautifully echoed throughout the halls. The player sat atop a wooden crate in the tight, dimmly lit hall. Her light blue hair bounced slightly with the movement of her hand. Her bow glided gracefully over the four strings of the wooden instrument. The quick tempo she kept slowly slowed down. Eventually, with one last long note, the song she was playing ended. The girl hopped off of the crate and landed on the cold stone ground. She began walking away until a voice stopped her.

"Ritsuko," they said. The voice belonged to a young boy; not much older than fourteen. She looked into the small window in the door of his cell room to see the boy. His black hair was wild, a bit tangled, and ended just above his shoulders. The orange eyes he possessed had a faint sparkle in them. They would be so much more stunning had he not been stuck in that cell. Still, he seemed a bit happy despite the grim place he was trapped in. "Can you play one more for us? The one that you play sometimes before you leave. You know, to help us go to sleep?"

"Yes, can you please?" a girl asked. She was in a cell on the other side of the boy, just a few doors down. Ritsuko walked back to the crate she was on before.

"Sure. If it will help you guys tonight, then I'll gladly do it." She sat back on the wooden box, carefully holding the violin and bow. She always held them a certain way. With her bow, her pinky never touched it. She always made sure that her pinky holding the neck of the violin never touched the instrument either. If she allowed it to happen, her quirk would destroy it. That was something that she didn't want since she valued the wooden object.

Holding the two objects in the way she needed to, she began to play one more song for the night. The tempo of the entire piece was slow, as it was one that would help someone fall asleep. The different pitches of the notes varied in volume. Her dark grey eyes were closed for nearly the entire duration of the song. It was only after the last note finished echoing that she slowly opened them. She quietly got off the box and went to the other side of the long hall, walking past the many cells until reaching a door. The girl opened the metal door soundlessly.

"Good night, everyone," she whispered before slowly closing the door. Ritsuko walked down a hall until she reached a door. After going inside the room, she went to a violin case. The girl opened it and placed the instrument and bow in. She closed it and went back into the hall. Ritsuko walked a bit before she was met with a taller male. He stood at five feet and nine inches. She was only an inch shorter, making her five feet and eight inches. The male stared at her with dark blue eyes and spiky, dark brown hair.

"Where are you going?" he asked in a slightly protective way.

"Out," Ritsuko stated bluntly.

"Why?"

"I have to get some things. Tell my father that I will be back by 10:30." She heard the man scoff at her words before moving out of her way. She continued forward down the hall. The girl pressed a button, and a painting moved. She stepped out of the secret passage and into an open room. The place resembled a bar of sorts. Ritsuko pressed a hidden button inside the room, making the painting move again to cover up the passageway.

Now she could see the picture of the painting. It was just a simple forest at night; nothing special. After looking at it for a few more moments, she walked to the front entrance to leave. Ritsuko stepped out into the cold air before going up a short staircase. She thanked herself for grabbing a jacket on her way out. It was a white winter jacket that had black fur on the edge of the hood and the edge of the wrists. The collar stuck up a bit, successfully shielding her mouth from the side so the cold wind couldn't hit it. Ritsuko walked up the stairs and ended up in the empty street. This area of the city was abandoned, so no one would see her.

The girl walked for a while before finally getting to a place that was bustling with life. Her long light blue hair was at her waist before a breeze caused it to sway a bit to the side.

Ritsuko started walking again and eventually found herself in a store. She grabbed a basket to hold the things she planned on getting. As she went through the aisles, she snatched up food and drinks. She made it to the medical aisle and placed some of the things in her basket. It was mostly just bandages, gauze, painkillers, and medicine for sickness. She stepped out of the aisle and someone bumped into her, resulting in her falling on her right side.

"I'm sorry!" they rushed. It was a boy. "Let me help you."

"No need," she said, hoping that he wouldn't sick around. She was never really good in social situations, especially with strangers. Keeping a conversation was hard for her since she never knew what to talk about; she wasn't that up to date with current events or had much in her life that she would share either.

Ritsuko sat up, flinching from the pain in her right hip. It wasn't necessarily from the fall; her hip was damaged long before. She saw the boy assisting her by putting what fell out of her basket back in it. The young boy was around her age. He had forest green hair, dark green eyes, pale skin, and four freckles on both cheeks in the shape of a diamond.

"You really don't need to help me," she said again. He looked to her.

"But I knocked you down and made you drop most of your things, so I should help as a way to apologize," he pointed out. By the time the pain in her hip died down a bit, she noticed that he already had eveything back in the basket. It was all placed neater than she had it before since she was just kind of throwing what she was picking up in it so she could leave quickly. Usually though, she did keep things fairly organized.

"Here," she heard him say. He was already on his feet, offering a hand that she could take so he could pull her up. However, she just ignored his hand and pushed herself up. It's not that she was afraid of him or anything, it was just that she didn't like touch. She was hardly ever showed affection through touch growing up, so she prefered not touching people at all.

Ritsuko took the handle of the basket from him, making sure her index finger didn't touch it while she held it.

"Thank you," she said to him. The girl saw his face dust with pink.

"Y- your w- welcome," the shorter boy stuttered out. She looked down at him for a moment before turning and making her way to the counter.

He watched her walk away. It was rather obvious to him that she was in pain, but he didn't question it. When he had looked into her dark grey eyes he saw nothing but sadness and despair. He wanted to know what was making her feel so hopeless, but again, she was a stranger, so he wouldn't put himself in her affairs. Although, he had this nagging feeling in him that he should help her, but he knew that he couldn't just be straightforward. Saying 'hey, you have some serious problems; let me help' definitely was not a good way to go about it. With the way she acted, he knew she would just brush him off if he went about it like that. Instead, he waited for her. He was going to catch her name at the very least.

After about a minute of him standing just outside of the small store, he finally saw her exit. He knew that the way he was going about this was somewhat shady, but it was the best thing he came up with. She wasted no time in turning to get to her destination.

He ran up to her and said, "H- hey, sorry about earlier." She immediately stopped. After a few seconds she turned to see him.

"No worries," she said, keeping her sentence short and her eyes not directly on him.

"U- um, my name is Midoriya Izuku," he said, a faint, welcoming smile on his features. He saw her shift on her feet a bit uncomfortably. Then he saw that the girl was messing with a necklace that was hanging from her neck. Although, he didn't know what is was since he couldn't see it from where he was.

"Cool," she said.

He saw her turn to walk away, but he stopped her by asking, "M- mind if you tell me your name?"

She paused for a moment, thinking. The girl was aware that he knew about her father, but not about her. Since that was the case, she kept it at just her first name. As she lowered her hand from her necklace, she said, "Ritsuko."

"W- well, m- maybe we can see each other again sometime," he suggested. There was a silence between them that lasted for a few seconds.

"Maybe," she breathed, finally responding to him. Then she turned back to where she was going and resumed walking.

Izuku watched her go down the sidewalk. Although, he didn't get to watch for too long since he heard his phone buzz from inside the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out the device and saw that he had received a message. While doing so, he saw that the time was 9:17. The caller ID of the message said that it was Uraraka.

 _Uraraka: Did you get the snacks and drinks from the store deku?_

Izuku facepalmed before looking back down at his phone.

 _Izuku: Sorry got distracted so i will be a bit late_

After texting her, Izuku shoved his phone back in his pocket. He walked back into the store to get what he needed. Him and his friends were having a party, and they were running low on some food and drinks. He ended getting the short end of the stick. Literally. Since he drew the shortest stick, he had to go out and replenish the snacks.

Getting everything was quick, but it was the walk that took most of his time. However, when he finally got back to his friends, he was greeted in two different ways by two different people. The worried and the irritated.

"You're back! I was getting worried!" That was Uraraka.

"Finally! It took you long enough, shitty Deku." That was Katsuki. The only reason he was here was because Kirishima got him to come. Izuku was glad that he didn't bother him too much during the party.

"Sorry it took so long!"

"That's fine! It was manly of you to go out and do it," Kirishima told him

"Right, dude!" Kaminari said.

Izuku set down the bags he had, and everyone got a pick at what was there. For the remainder of the party, he was just sitting by himself. His thoughts were mostly thinking about Ritsuko since he got back. He just couldn't get the helpless glint her dark grey eyes had out of his mind. On top of that, she was in pain. His first guess was that he had accidentally hurt her when he caused her to fall. Then he had the idea that she was already in pain before he bumped into her. If that was the case, he guessed that she might either have abusive parents or was in an abusive relationship. Although, he wasn't sure.

"Deeeekuuuu!" he heard. It startled him out of his thoughts.

"S- sorry!" Izuku said. When he looked up, he saw Uraraka and Iida.

"There he is! Back to reality!" Iida said.

"I thought we would never reach you," the girl teased. Izuku showed them a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," he repeated. Izuku told himself that he would think about the girl later. For now, he would focus on his friends and the party.

~~~

Ritsuko sat on her soft bed in her room, earbuds blasting music in her ears. Her grey eyes glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside her bed. It was 12:34 am. A sigh escaped her as she turned off the lamp and layed down. While in the darkness, she thought about the boy she had encountered at the store.

Midoriya Izuku.

Her father talked about him. He didn't like him very much. After a few minutes her music player switched to the next song in the playlist.

She knew about Izuku long before. Since a bit over a year ago. Ritsuko was aware that he was in his second year of UA now. It was only after she heard his name that she had pieced his appearance to a picture she had seen of him before. He was nice, so she felt bad about her father disliking him. She wasn't naïve, however; she knew why he didn't like him.

Even though he was kind to her by helping her, Ritsuko still wasn't so sure. She didn't trust him by all means; she never truely trusted anyone due to how she has lived since childhood. The only ones she did trust completely was her mother, father, and childhood friend. The woman wasn't around now though. Her father was usually planning or thinking about something, and she didn't want to bother him. Her childhood friend was usually around and willing to talk, so he was who she talked to the most out of the three when it came to things bothering her.

She didn't want her father to find Izuku though. To hurt him. She also didn't want to actively talk to him either, as she felt that way about everyone else. Ritsuko just didn't like to be apart of conversations.

Plus, Izuku made her feel weird. He had offered her all of his kindness even though she was a stranger. No one did that before him except for her friend since childhood. No one. Ever.

She didn't like the way the green haired boy made her feel.

She decided she would try to avoid him.

 **Word Count: 2457**

 **Hey, thanks for taking your probably valuable time reading the prologue for this story! It may be cliché or whatever since the MC falls for the kid of their enemy, but it's still something that can be** **interesting.**

 **For right now, I'm not certain when I will post the next chapter, but it will most likely be within the next week or two.**

 **Also, any review is welcome since I can use them to help me become a better** **writer** **. I also like to take ideas sometimes and put them somewhere in the story.**

 ** _~ Posted_** **_August_** **_22, 2018_**


	2. Meet Again

**_Chapter 1_**

 ** _Meet Again_**

The cafeteria was full of students. Iida, Uraraka, and Izuku were having a conversation at one of the many tables. Well, it was really just the two former holding the convo. The latter was in his own thoughts. The day after their party, Sunday, he had found himself thinking about Ritsuko at different times in the day.

It was Monday now, and he was still getting some thoughts about her. Thankfully, it didn't distract him too much from his classes.

When his mind went to her, the first thing he would think of were her dark grey eyes. Pained and hopeless; nothing but despair. Then he thought about how she seemed as though she was in pain. He wasn't sure why or where, and it made him worry about her. It also made him think that there was a possibility that someone was abusing her.

"Hey, Deku, do you like butterscotch or caramel more?" he heard Uraraka question.

"Caramel," he answered on autopilot with a quieted tone, his green eyes looking off to the side.

"Are you alright?" Iida asked a bit worriedly. "You haven't been really focused all day."

Izuku turned to look at them, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" He sounded a bit unsure though. The two stared at him for a few seconds.

"Whatever is going on, you can tell us," the brunette said before taking a bite of her lunch. Iida nodded in agreement. He thought for a moment about whether or not he should tell them. Izuku decided that he would, but he would leave out her name.

"It's just that, when I was at the store to get more stuff for the party, I bumped into this girl. Literally," he explained. "There was something about her though."

Uraraka's face lit up for a second. "My god, Deku fell in love with a stranger at first sight!"

Izuku raised his hands up in a defensive manner, "N- no! I- it's not like t- that!"

"Those stutters kind of suggest otherwise," she teased.

"Take in to acount, he stutters whenever he talks to a girl in gerenal," Iida pointed out.

Izuku's face was a bit red. Then the bell went off. Lunch was now over. He got up with the other two, threw away the rest of his food, and then headed off to class with them. Again, his mind wondered off to her, but he was still able to focus on his following lessons.

~~~

"There you go," Ritsuko said. She had just slid a tray of food through a small opening in the cell door to the black haired boy she saw earlier. The tray had food on it. She was also able to slide a small bottle of water through.

"Thank you," he voiced greatfully. He took a few bites before stopping. The boy looked up at her with his dull orange eyes. They weren't shining like they were the previous night.

"Ritsuko?" he started.

"Yes, Kuro?"

"I'm next, aren't I?"

Ritsuko paused. She knew exactly what he meant. She sighed before telling him, "Yes. I apologize."

A small smile appeared on the boy's face, his orange eyes lighting up a bit. "Thank you for letting me know, but there is no need for you to apologize. You can't control what happens, so nothing is your fault."

"Right..." Ritsuko stood up and walked over to her wooden crate before turning around. She ran a hair through her light blue hair.

"Would you guys like some music while you have lunch?" she asked, her voice echoing to the cells in the hall. There were a lot of 'yes' and 'please', so she did. Ritsuko carefully picked up her violin and bow. Then she jumped on the crate and began playing a few songs.

When lunch was over, she stopped and went off to her room. She tucked her violin in its case along with the bow. After doing that, she looked through the candy she had stashed in her dresser. There was only one thing left. It was a small chocolate bar.

 _'I guess I'll stop by my favorite chocolate store to get my favorite chocolate box,'_ she thought to herself. _'I can share some with Kuro. He can have the caramel since I don't it chocolate. I hope that he likes caramel in chocolate.'_

She quickly left her room, and out of the bar. Luckily, no one was there to stop her. Ritsuko had to walk longer since the place was a lot further into the city, but it was worth it to her.

~~~

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Deku!" Uraraka called as she crossed the intersection.

"Right!" Izuku replied. He continued on his side of the street, making his way to the place he stayed at. About ten minutes of him walking pass until he gets to a less populated area of the city. Just out of the corner of his sight, he caught a glimpse of long, light blue hair. He saw her enter a small chocolate shop across the street. Quickly, he got to the next crosswalk to get to the other side. Luckily, it was already signalling pedestrians to cross, so he didn't have to wait. It took only a few seconds for him to get to the chocolate shop.

He walked through the open door. The short boy looked around for a second. When he didn't spot her, he decided to check the aisles. Izuku turned into to one, and he nearly bumped into the person he was looking for. Again.

"S- sorry," he said. Ritsuko looked down at him, her dark eyes staring into his green ones. However, that lasted only a few seconds since she turned her head slightly.

"It's fine," she told him. Ritsuko didn't expect to run into him, especially the very next day. She had the box of chocolates that she came for, so she would quickly pay and get away from him.

"I- it was R- Ritsuko, r- right?" he questioned.

"Yes," she answered immediately, wanting to get distance from him as fast as possible. Although, she didn't want to be mean or rude about it.

He was making her feel that weird, new feeling. She didn't like it.

"M- maybe, do you want to t- talk for a bit?" Izuku asked. Ritsuko remained silent. Then she decided that she could at least repay him for helping her last night.

"Do you like caramel?" Ritsuko inquired him, ignoring the feeling in her body. The boy seemed slightly confused when she answered him with that question.

"Y- yeah, why?"

"I'm not a big fan of caramel."

"O- oh... Okay."

She motioned for him to follow, which he did. It took only a few minutes for her to pay for the chocolates. After that, she took him to a nearby park. They sat down on one of the wooden benches. Ritsuko opened the large box to reveal all of the different kinds of chocolate. She gave the lid to Izuku so he could see the inside of said lid. It told what him what the flavor each one was.

"Milk chocolate's mine," she declared.

After Izuku finished studying the lid to see which piece was flavored what, he asked, "Which other ones do you want?"

"Just milk chocolate is fine for me. Please eat some caramel ones though," Ritsuko informed him. He looked down at the pieces, thinking about which one he wanted. He settled with the one in the bottom left corner, it being a caramel flavored one. He popped the small square shaped piece of chocolate in his mouth.

His green eyes widened as he savored the flavor that explode in his mouth. He had never had chocolate quite like this. Then again, he didn't have fancy, expensive chocolate like this very often.

"These are really good! I haven't had chocolate from this shop before!" Izuku praised, managing not to stutter this time. Ritsuko stared at him for a little bit.

"Buy some from there when you get thr chance," she finally suggested, placing a piece of chocolate in her mouth. They reached for the box at the same time, grabbed the same kind of piece that were opposite of each other since the chocolates were placed in a symmetrical layout. The two pieces were dark chocolate. They put it in their mouths at the same time, both chewing the piece as soon as it touched their tongue.

When he was done, he asked, "What made you get these today?"

"A... friend," she answered, giving it some thought. Ritsuko was a bit glad that he became more confident and stopped stuttering.

"They must mean a lot, right?"

"Yes." Ritsuko kept making her sentences short. The less she talked, the less he would know about her. For her, it seemed better that way.

The two allowed a silence to fall over them. However, it was a comfortable one. Izuku decided to take a quick look at her again. She was wearing a grey shirt, dark blue jeans, simple black shoes, and the white winter jacket she wore when he first met her. This time he was able to see the necklace she wore. It was a small, dark blue, sparkly stone in the shape of a heart. The stone was attached to a black string that was holding it around her neck.

It didn't take very long, but soon they were almost finished with the chocolates. Then Izuku realized something.

"Oh no! I'm sorry!" he spoke, an apologetic tone used in his words.

"Why?"

"All the chocolate is almost gone! You're friend won't get a lot..."

"No worries," the light blue haired girl said. She took the black foil that the chocolates were placed on and raised it up, revealing another tray with the same pieces set in the same array.

"Oh," he whispered. After hearing him, she lowered the foil back into the box. Then Ritsuko closed the box with the lid. She just sat there, looking at what was in front of her. It was a woman playing tug of war with her dog, which was a big golden retriever.

Meanwhile, Izuku looked up into the sky. The blue canvas was dotted with a few white clouds here and there. Then he checked the time on his phone. It was 4:57. He knew that they had been there for quite a while, so he guessed that they arrived at the park at about 4:30. Maybe a little later than that. As soon as he put his phone away, he heard her stand up.

"W- where are you going?" Izuku stuttered out. His confidence had slipped away.

"Home," she told him.

"L- let me w- walk you home," he said, rising to his feet.

"No," Ritsuko instantly said. Her voice was a mix of aggression and worry, and it caught him off guard a little. Then she began to walk away from him.

"W- wait for a second," he said. Ritsuko stopped and slowly turned to him. "C- can we... meet again? Here t- tomorrow at around 4:30?"

The girl was hesitant. She wasn't sure what would happen if she started to meet with him. If her father found out, she had no doubt that he would be angry and upset. Although, the idea of meeting someone new peeked her interest. Ritsuko liked that he was nice to her, but she was scared of the new feeling he gave her. She wasn't positive of the outcome, but there was something that told her that a good thing would come from it.

"Okay," she told him. She saw his face gain a big smile.

"Alright! I- I'll see you then, Ritsuko!"

With that, she turned back around and began her trek toward the place she stayed. The only place she considered 'home', but she knew that it wasn't how one should be.

She declared that the next time they met, it would determine whether or not she wanted to see him more.

~~~

"Thank you, Ritsuko, for giving me some of these!" Kuro whispered happily.

"You're welcome."

Kuro swallowed the piece of chocolate in his mouth. His orange eyes seemed to dim slightly, a bit of happiness escaping the fourteen year old boy. "Will it hurt?"

Ritsuko slowly opened her dark grey eyes, the sadness that was almost always in them becoming more apparent. "Unfortunately, it most likely will."

A sad smile appeared on his pale face. He lowered his head, his black hair covering his eyes. "How long will it take?"

"About an hour," she told him in a calm and gentle voice. Kuro looked up to her, one of his orange eyes showing.

"You deserve better than all of this; Kaito too!" he suddenly blurted. "Someone like you two should never be forced into something like this. Although, we are very glad that you are here at the same time. You're the only ones that gives us comfort. You are the one that gives us medical treatment, and you help us fall asleep when we can't by playing the violin. You help prepare us before they turn us into nomus or whatever else they do. Kaito too; he talks to us when we are bored. I think I speak for all of us in saying 'thank you so much for what you do'."

Ritsuko stared at him for a moment. "What song do you want me to play before I leave? I won't see you again after tonight, so I want you to pick a song."

"The first one that you played when I got here," he told her. She knew exactly which one it was. Everytime a new person came, she always played the same song when people first wake after being placed in one of the various cells.

"Okay." Ritsuko sat on her crate and began playing the song. The song started out slow and quiet. Shortly after the start, it changed into a much faster tempo, and the notes were louder. Each long note she held she used vibrato to make it sound nicer. To make it sound more beautiful. Towards the end the piece abruptly slowed. She played three long notes with a rest in between, each one being one pitch lower than the last. The last note was held for three beats before she lifted her bow slightly above the strings. She held herself like that until she couldn't hear the echo anymore.

Quietly, she got off of the box. Ritsuko walked to the door and made her way to her room. On her way, she felt pain bolt through her right side. The pain that was already in her right hip significantly worsened. She nearly fell to the ground, but she caught herself by leaning against the cold wall. Ignoring it as best she could, she looked up to see the cause. It was a tall male with short blonde hair. His brown eyes were full of anger.

"It's been awhile, Haze," she stated in a flat tone.

"God damn, I hate you," he said with anger.

"That's why you hit me when you see me," Ritsuko said. He scoffed at her.

"Sorry, I just feel the need to hit things that anger me or get in my way. Hell, when it comes to you, it's both." He bared his teeth as he walked away before adding, "You're lucky that the guy with the hands is your father."

Ritsuko went into her room as soon as she saw him turn the corner. She placed the box of chocolates on her desk, and she put the violin and bow in the case they belonged in. The girl couldn't stop the tears cascading down her pale cheeks and she locked the black and white case.

The pain she was feeling was unbearable.

Carefully and slowly, she eased herself onto her soft bed after flipping the lamp off. She tried to stop crying, but she could just not find a way to do that. Ritsuko placed earbuds in her ears and turned on her music player. She tried listening to the music, but her mind kept focusing on the pain in her hip instead. Her right hand clenched the white bedsheet, her index finger being the only one not making contact with it.

Ritsuko buried her tear stained face into her pillow. Thankfully, sleep came to her pretty quick.

 **Word Count:** **2730**

 ** _~ Poste_** ** _d S_** ** _eptember 1, 2018_**


	3. Getting To Know You

**_Chapter 2_**

 ** _Getting To Know You_**

He couldn't wait for school to get out, and it had only just begun.

Izuku had to go through his classes before he could see Ritsuko again. He felt like he had to see her again. The teen just had this overwhelmingly strong urge to shelter her; to protect her from whatever was going on in her life. That was why he was so happy when she agreed to meet him again. The boy already had a plan for what they could do for the day.

First, they could go out for food. There was a nice restaurant he had in mind that wasn't too fancy, but it wasn't too basic either. Second, they could go to a little shop that was close by there. Third, they could stop by a nice bakery that he was fairly fond of. Of course, he was going to go anywhere she wanted to if she didn't want to visit one of those places.

Luckily, before he knew it, it was already lunch. He quickly got to the cafeteria and collected his food. Although, he wanted some more time to think, so he ended up going outside instead.

He found a nice tree that was away from everyone and sat down. Izuku pressed his back against the bark and began to eat what he had gotten. Little did he know, two people were stalking him from afar.

"What do you think?" Uraraka asked the person beside her.

"He may want some alone time. After all, he does spend most of his time with us during class breaks," Iida suggested. She shook her head.

"No, I bet it has something to do with that girl he mentioned. He's been kind of weird ever since that night he met her."

"True. He has been acting rather strange."

"Let's follow him after school," the brunette said, a devilish smirk on her face.

"We can't do that! It's an invasion of his privacy!"

"But aren't you curious?! I mean, he may be interested in a girl! What if he tries to take advantage of her if she is a shy and innocent girl?!"

"He wouldn't do that. I have a lot of faith in Midoriya," Iida told her. Uraraka pouted.

"Well, I guess I'll be going by myself. It would be a shame if something were to happen and that someone could have helped but wasn't there."

Iida thought for a moment. Then he gave in. "As much as I don't want to, I will join you. I want to make sure that no gets hurt or anything during this whole thing."

The girl squealed with glee.

~~~

Izuku sat in a park bench in a new set of clothing. The park wasn't too far away from his house, so he was able to stop by and change into something more presentable. Of course, he told his mom a goodbye and that he might be back a bit later than usual.

His outfit was pretty simple. It was a black hoodie, blue jeans, and his red boots. Underneath the hoodie, he wore a simple white, short sleeve shirt.

Anxiously, he checked the time on his phone. It was exactly 4:25. He pocketed the device and leaned back against the bench. Patiently, he waited another few minutes. Izuku didn't mind if she was late. He would just be glad that she came to meet him.

Feeling nervous, he began to look around. Then he felt something blow on the back of his neck. Out of instinct, he jumped up with a weird sound escaping him and rubbed his neck. He saw who he was waiting for standing behind the wooden bench he was sitting on moments before.

"R- Ritsuko, why would you scare me?!" he asked, heat rushing to his cheeks. She was wearing a maroon red shirt, dark blue jeans, and the same white winter jacket she had worn yesterday. She had on a pair of black leather boots that went just above her ankles as well. His green eyes noticed she was wearing the heart necklace as well.

"You were vulnerable," she answered.

"O- oh. I- I'm glad that you came here though!" He realized that she was holding the chocolate box from yesterday.

"What are we doing first?" Ritsuko asked him. He saw her walk around the bench to get closer to him. The slight breeze had picked her light blue hair up a little bit. She then opened the box to reveal that the top tray of pieces were gone, and there weren't much left of the second. They ate the rest, and Ritsuko threw away the box in the near by trashcan.

"W- well, there is a restaurant near by if you're hungry," he suggested. She nodded.

"Alright."

They began walking to their destination. He wasn't sure what he could say to get her to talk more. Izuku already determined that she was a person of few words. Plus, he doubted that she would share much of her personal life with someone that she practically just met. He found it as a miracle that she even agreed to meet him again.

The two made it to the small restaurant. Izuku, being the kind soul that he was, held the door open for the girl to enter first. They let the workers know that they were there, and then he saw her walk to one of the tables. Ritsuko sat at one near one of the various windows, so he sat across from her. He began to nervously fiddle his fingers that were hidden under the clean surface of the table.

A few seconds after they were seated, they were both given a menu. Since he had been to the place a lot, mostly with his mom when he was spending some time with her, he knew what he wanted. Still, he looked through the menu due to a habit he had created.

He looked through the menu once before glancing up at Ritsuko. Her menu was closed, and she was staring outside with her dark grey eyes.

"Ritsuko," he started, causing her to turn to him, "did you pick something out?"

"I've never been here before. You pick for me," she ordered. He tilted his head to the side slightly, a sheepish smile making its way onto his face. Either way, he reopened the booklet and looked through it.

"The fancy sushi they have here is pretty good," he informed her.

"I don't like sushi," she stated bluntly.

 _'At least she's honest, I guess,'_ he thought to himself. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay, would like to try their pork and rice? It's pretty good here." He saw her nod. A waitress came by and supplied them with water before going to help someone else, giving the two some more time. "Alright. They have lot of different drinks that you-"

"Tea," she said, cutting him off. He paused for a few seconds and closed the menu. Then the waitress came back about a minute later.

"Have you two decided yet?"

"Uh, y- yeah. We will both be having pork, rice, and tea. I will also take some shrimp," he informed her. She finished writing and repeated the order to make sure it was correct before heading off. He looked back over to Ritsuko after a minute or two and saw her looking out the window again.

"Where do you usually eat when it comes to restaurants?" Izuku asked. She turned back to him, noticing that he wasn't stuttering. She suspected that his confidence rose enough. Knowing that he was more comfortable than earlier made her feel more at ease.

"I don't eat out," she answered. If he asked simple questions like that, she had no reason not to be honest with the green haired boy.

"Oh. Then what do you usually do in your free time?"

"I play violin, and sometimes sing," she told him.

"That's nice that you can do that. I've never played an instrument, and I kind of sound like a dying whale if I ever sing," he told her truthfully, a nervous chuckle escaping him. Just then, the waitress came back with the food that they ordered.

Izuku saw her take the fork in her left hand, keeping her index finger from touching it. He guessed that Ritusko was a lefty from which hand she was using. Taking his own fork, he got some of the pork and took a bite. He saw her do the same as he chewed. When he got some of the rice, she did the same just seconds after.

The two continued to eat like this for a few minutes. Eventually, he got used to her mimicking what he was doing, minus when he took bites of the shrimp he got. Izuku had also noticed that whenever she placed her hands on something she would always have one finger off of it. Izuku assumed it was either out of impulse or that it was a habit she picked up at some point early on in her life.

When they were done, they got up and headed to the counter as a waiter cleaned up their table. He payed for the both of them before they left.

"Was it okay, or did you not like it?" he questioned her.

"It was good," she replied, looking at the passing cars. He paused for a moment.

"Uh, there's a little shop near by that sells some small nick nacks and stuff," he told her, causing her to look at him. "We can check it out if you want."

"Okay."

By now, he was fairly used to her speaking few words. The same can be said about the slightly odd behavior she displayed.

Izuku and Ritsuko arrived at the place he had suggested. They looked around in the small space of the aisles. She would stand a good distance from him as they searched. He had noticed that whenever someone entered the same aisle as them, she would take a step closer to him. Especially when they got closer to them. To get the taller girl to talk, he would point some items out around them. Still though, she didn't say much more than 'cool', 'okay', or 'I don't like it'.

As time went on, more people entered the store. Each time the bell signalling someone walked in rang, he saw her get more fidgety and nervous. Feeling worried for her, he got her out of the store.

"Is there anywhere you would like to go?" Izuku asked her. It was pretty late at this point; nearly dark. He saw her shake her head. "Oh, okay. There's a nice bakery close by if you want to stop by there." She nodded and followed him.

When they got there, he brought her to the counter to look at what they had in the clear glass counter. This place helped him figure out that she was a fan of bread since she had pointed out different kinds that she said were good. She was pretty much leading them, and he ended up following her to a small cookie section.

"This," she suddenly said, pointing to a large chocolate chip cookie.

"You want that?" he questioned her, just to make sure that was what she meant. Ritsuko nodded, so he got it for her. They went outside into the cool night air after that.

Izuku saw her take a big bite of the cookie. Just like with everything else before now, she had her index finger off of the wrapper holding the cookie. Ritsuko looked over to him.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"Today."

"Oh, I just kind of want to get to know you," he said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"You had a plan. That's good," she assured him. It made him become a bit flustered.

"Y- yeah. I- I'm glad that you l- like the time we spent together!"

"I'm going home now."

"I can walk you," he said, a small smile working its way to his face.

"No," she said immediately, making the smile go away quickly.

"Oh, a- alright." Izuku watched her go take a few steps down the sidewalk before stopping. She spun around to see him, her dark grey eyes looking just over his head.

"Same place, same time, tomorrow," she told him before turning back around and resuming her walk. He just stood there for a minute before a smile finally formed in his expression again. He then headed back home, excited for the next day already.

Izuku wasn't sure why he was excited to see her again. He just was, and it didn't bother him. Not at all.

Then that feeling that he felt before about her came back. The need to protect her and make sure she was safe. Except it felt stronger this time.

The aspiring hero told himself that he would get to know more about her tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the two that were spying on them all day were chatting now that they split up.

"Alright!" Uraraka said, feeling like she accomplished something extremely important.

"Midoriya probably shouldn't be made aware that we did this, right?" Iida asked, waiting for confirmation. She shook her head.

"Of course he shouldn't! Just act as though we never did this; we saw absolutely _nothing_!"

 **Word Count: 2229**

 **I was able to get this chapter out sooner than I actually thought since I got into writing this one.**

 **Just so there isn't confusion or anything, chapters in the future will most likely not come out this quickly. They won't always be a weekly thing either.**

 ** _~ Posted September_** ** _6, 2018_**


	4. Biker Girl

**_Chapter 3_**

 ** _Biker Girl_**

It was Wednesday, and he was almost done with school. What they were required to do was practice with their quirks. He had the 'luck' of being against Katsuki.

"Shitty Deku!" he yelled. He jumped to him to use his quirk on him. Out of instinct to defend himself, he took his chance and hit Katsuki in the gut, using his own quirk. He was much better with One For All now that he's had it for a little over a year, but there were still time when he over did it a little bit.

The spiky blonde was knocked back, and a sharp pain spread through Izuku's right hand. He didn't let it distract him too much as Katsuki kicked him in the chest. He was about to use his quirk on his face, but Aizawa quickly stopped him with his quirk.

"That's enough. Bakugo wins."

Izuku got to his feet and shook his right hand. He had already damaged it enough, plus there were the scars on his arm. His hand wasn't broken, but it still hurt a lot. He guessed that it was either a major sprain or a minor fracture.

He heard the bell go off for the end of school.

"Come on, we're still outside!" he heard Kaminari whine. Izuku still needed to change before he even left the school. He ignored the pain in his hand and did just that. It took him only a minute to get back into his school uniform while in the changing room. Then he rushed to the front of the school.

Izuku only had so much time until he had to be back at the park. Unfortunately, he had another set back. The route he used to get home was being worked on today, so he had to take a longer route. Once he did get home, he changed into the same black hoodie as last time, dark blue jeans, and his red boots. He said a 'goodbye' to his mom just before leaving. When he was close to the park, he checked his phone. It read 4:33.

 _'Oh no, I'm late!'_ Izuku thought frantically. He turned his fast walk into a run. About a minute later, he spotted Ritsuko's light blue hair. She was at the same bench as yesterday.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called before reaching her. She was wearing a white, long sleeve shirt, black tights, and white boots that had short fur on them. They reached halfway to her knees. He saw that she had the same heart necklace as before.

 _'It seems like she never takes it off,'_ he noted in thought.

Her dark grey eyes scanned his attire. She saw that he was panting. Ritsuko had to take a second look at him when she noticed his right hand was a bit purple and swollen.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked him. He stood up straighter and finally got decent breaths in his lungs.

"O- oh, I used my quirk a little past my limit, so I kinda hurt it," he told her. A sheepish smile appeared on his lips when he added, "I- it's not a big deal though! It will heal."

"Sit," she commanded, tapping the spot on the bench beside her with only her index finger. He sat down, and then he felt her hand lift his. A blush crossed his face as she touched his hand, making him wince. Like almost everything before, her index fingers were never placed on his skin.

"Minor fracture," she suddenly said. He sighed at hearing that one of his guesses were right. Then she stood up.

"Come," Ritsuko ordered. When he registered what she said, he got up and followed her. They ended up outside of a store not too far away. "Wait here."

Izuku waited just outside like she wanted. After a couple of minutes, she returned with a box. He followed her to a bench that was against the building. She opened the box and took out a roll of bandages. Then she roughly grabbed his right hand, causing a yelp to escape him. It made him go red in embarrassment, but it got worse the more she fiddled with his injured hand. He watched her wrap the white bandages around his hand, and she stopped when she got to his wrist. There wasn't much left, so she decided to continue and wrap part of his forearm. When she was done she looked at the passing cars.

"Th- thanks," he stuttered. She nodded after a moment.

"Where to?"

"O- oh, uh, d- do you have anywhere in mind?" Ritsuko shook her head. "Okay. Th- there's an arcade nearby if you want to go."

She quickly got to her feet, and so did Izuku. He took her to the place he was talking about. The inside of the place was a bit dim, but the lights of the machines were plenty to light their way around the building.

They tried a few simple games at first, but he noticed that a first person shooter one caught Ritsuko's eye. He went over to it, and she followed. It was a partner game, so they both picked up the plastic pistols the machine provided. Izuku inserted some money for it to start up. It didn't take long at all for them to start shooting, but he quickly noticed that she was a much better shot than him. Not only that, but she was showing off a more psychotic side he didn't think she had. They defeated the boss at the end and won the game.

"Get fucked!" Ritsuko said a bit loudly after seeing the winning screen. Her sudden vulgar word startled him. There's was something different about her voice, and the smirk she wore made him feel a bit scared of her.

"W- why d- don't we try a- another game?" he suggested nervously. She nodded, her murderous attitude vanishing and being replaced with her stoic one again. Then someone approached them. It was a tall male with black hair.

"Hey, me and my friend watched you two on that shooting game. Why don't you guys try to beat us in a racing one?" Izuku glanced over to Ritsuko and saw her staring at the teen boy in front of them.

"Yes," she declared for him. It made him become nervous. Still, they followed him to the machine he was talking about. It was a motorbike game that was designed for partners on each bike.

"Since we challenged you two, we'll pay for you," said the black haired male's friend. He had blonde hair.

"I will drive," Ritsuko told Izuku. He saw her get on the bike as one of the other boys placed money in for them.

Hesitantly, Izuku got on the back of the bike. He felt her tense up, and his cheeks headed up. Although, she relaxed after a few seconds. The other two boys were on the other bike, fighting over which track they wanted.

"This one," Ritsuko said, getting them to look at the screen. She picked one with both small and sharp turns. They agreed.

"Have you guys played this before?" the blonde asked.

"No," both Izuku and Ritsuko answered.

"The jist is that the driver obviously drives, and the passenger is responsible for using the items that get picked up. Of course, you and your partner want to win first place," the black haired boy explained.

It took only a few moments for the game to start. Izuku kept his eyes on the screen to focus, as did the other three. He noticed that she let the boys take the lead which confused him. After a few seconds, she ran into a box that gave them an item. It was something to throw at the others. He looked over Ritsuko's shoulder to see the buttons available to him. His finger pressed a forward arrow, and then one pressed a red square. The item was thrown forward, colliding with the ingame bike in front of them.

"I knew I should have been the one driving!" the blonde yelled the boy.

"Whatever, man!" responded the black haired one.

Izuku attention was focused back on the game when Ritsuko caused the bike to lean to the side. He held on to the back of the fake bike so he wouldn't fall off. The leans continued unil the two boys actually caught up to them. The green haired teen was about to throw the item they had back at them, but Ritsuko stopped him by tapping his hand. Instead, he saw her slip a pen into her hand that was hidden beneath her left sleeve. She quickly tossed the pen at the black haired male, making him get distracted and nearly crash into a wall in the game.

"Hey, what the hell?!" he shouted.

"I guess we're playing dirty then!" the blonde yelled with irritation. He got out a little piece of gum that was still in its wrapper and threw it them. It hit Izuku right in the eye, and he leaned a little to the side. This made Ritsuko lean with him, but she quickly recovered.

"Doesn't matter," she told them. "We win." Izuku looked at the screen to see them pass the finish line. He hadn't even realized that they were on the third and final lap.

"That was cheap!" the blonde said. She turned her head to them. He barely saw the devilish grin she gave them.

"Too bad," she shrugged. After the two boys got off of their bike, she did the same. Izuku got to his feet once her feet were on the ground.

"Question: Are you two dating or something?" asked the black haired one. Izuku nearly choked on his own spit, a crimson blush getting to his cheeks.

"N- no, we're not!"

"Damn, you two would be a cute couple though!" a girl told them as she approached. She walked over to the two boys. "Jeez, I left you two for like, five minutes and you go back to this game. I swear, you're addicted to this one."

"Right, sorry," they said in unison. The light brown haired girl turned to them.

"Sorry if they caused you any trouble."

Izuku raised his hands and waved them, "N- no, I- it's fine!" The girl smiled and dragged the two boys to another section of the arcade. He looked to the light blue haired girl standing beside him and saw her dark grey eyes gazing at him.

"Ridden a real motorcycle?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"N- no. I don't k- know anyone that drives one."

"Do you want to?"

"Y- yeah, it would be cool! It would be really fun driving around the city with one. Feeling the wind as you go would be pretty nice too! You can-" Izuku was cut off when Ritsuko gently flicked his nose. He didn't mean to go into his mumbling habit. The hero in training tried to break it last year, but it was something that just couldn't happen. Although, he is more conscious of it now. At least, he tried his best to be.

The taller girl motioned for him to follow, and she walked towards the exit. Quickly, he trailed after her. They stopped just outside ofthe arcade.

"Stay. I will be back in a few minutes," she told him. He was about to protest, but she was already quite a few steps away. Izuku waited there for about fifteen minutes before he saw a motorcycle stop in front of him. The driver removed their helmet, and it took a moment for him to register that it was Ritsuko. She was atop a nice looking, clean, black motorcycle with a few white highlights. She was wearing a simple white helmet. Ritsuko tapped the small space behind her, signalling for him to sit. He walked over to the bike and hesitantly sat down. She tensed like last time, but relaxed quicker than before. Izuku was handed a spare helmet that was like hers, except it was black. He put it on his head as she began to drive.

There weren't many cars on the streets she chose, so they were able to drive pretty fast. They went through the intersections, just going around town for a while. At one point, Ritsuko took her helmet off and placed it in front of her to let her hair move around more. Izuku sometimes had to move her light blue strands of hair out of his way so he could see.

With a boost of confidence, he daringly removed his helmet as well. He felt the wind run though his wild, forest green hair. It put a huge smile on his face as he began to laugh.

"This feels amazing!" he shouted to her over the wind. Izuku saw her turn to see him. On her face, he saw the faintest smile. He blushed a faint pink. It was the first genuine smile he had seen her make since meeting her.

"This is one of the only things that make me really happy," he heard her say. She pulled over to the side of the road and turned the engine off. Her foot pushed down the rest so she wouldn't need to hold the bike up herself. The place they were at now was empty; no one else was there.

"W- what else makes you happy?" Izuku inquired her. He felt her very lightly lean into his chest. His breathing hitched for a moment, a blush returning to cheeks.

"Music," she answered, feeling him take his breaths.

Ritsuko was only comfortable with letting two people lay their hands on her. Her father and her close friend. Her mother would have been included. However, she wasn't around anymore, so she didn't count her. Now though, it was increased to three. She was alright with Izuku's touch since she trusted him, but she still needed time before she eased into it.

Izuku looked at his phone, and his eyes widened. It was 10:48. He knew it was late, but he didn't think it was _that_ late. "I- I have to go! I- it's a lot later than I thought."

"Okay," she said as he climbed off the bike. He handed her the helmet she let him use.

"W- we can meet again at the same place and time if you want," he suggested.

"Okay," she repeated. A smile went onto his face.

"Oh, and thanks for the bike ride," he told her with a small smile. She nodded, and he turned around. As soon as he rounded the corner he stopped. There was a voice. Curiosity got the best of him, so he stayed put and listened.

"Ritsuko!" someone said. Izuku peeked around the building, making sure that he wasn't seen. He saw a girl with long purple hair beside her. "Who was that boy?"

"No one."

"Aw, but he's so cute! If you don't take him soon, I'm gonna have too!"

"Whatever."

The new girl sighed, "Well, are you still coming to that race, or did you change your mind?"

"Where and when is it again?"

"It's at that area where there was that huge firework display last year in the forest! It's this Saturday at midnight!" she said excitedly. Izuku had a guess of where the girl was talking about. It was a big deal when it happened, so he remembered the general area of the event. If he looked at a map he would be able to find it.

"Yes," Ritsuko answered, "I'm still going."

"Awesome! Oh, and Haze told me he needed to talk to you. Anyways, gotta go. Cya then, Ritsuko!" With that, the girl dipped into the alleyway behind her.

Izuku saw that the light blue haired girl was uneasy. He had a feeling it was related to this 'Haze' guy that was mentioned. Either way, he resumed walking to his house. He couldn't help but get this weird, worried feeling tingle in him.

About ten minutes pass, and he realized just how far he was from his house. He wished that he asked her to drive him closer to his house. It would take about another thirty minutes to get home, which would make his return time around 11:40. His mother was probably already worried. He took out his phone to let her know he would be back at around then to lessen her worry. Just as he tapped on her profile to call her his cellphone died.

Just his luck.

"What?! No!" he shouted. Izuku pressed the power button a few times in the hopes that it would turn on, but it was in vein. With a defeated sigh, he put his phone away and picked up his pace.

Another three minutes or so pass, and he hears the engine of a motorcycle approach him from behind. He turned and saw the headlight of the bike, blinding him for a few moments. Izuku blinked the dark spots from his eyes and saw Ritsuko parked in the street, her dark grey eyes staring at him.

"I'm taking you home," she declared. Ritsuko didn't want to go back yet. She didn't want to see Haze yet. By taking him home, she could delay it for a bit.

"N- no, you don't have to!"

"I insist!" she said loudly. He heard the smallest hint of fear in her voice. Then he thought about how his mom would be extremely worried if he didn't get back as soon as possible. He gave in.

"Alright, I'll tell you where to go." Izuku saw her tense shoulders relax. He walked over to her and got on the back of the bike, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. She went down the streets he told her, and they got to his house in no time. He looked in the window and saw a light was on, meaning that his mom was probably still up.

He got off of the bike and paused for a second. Then he turned to her and said, "Th- thank you, Ritsuko! This helped me out a lot!" He began walking to his place.

"Izuku," she suddenly breathed. It made him stop and spin around. That was the first time she had actually said his name. He had honestly started to think earlier that she had forgotten his name.

"Yeah?"

"May I stay tonight?" Izuku thought he didn't hear her right for a second. When it fully registered in his head, he went completely red.

"A- are you sure? I mean, wh- what about your parents?"

"They won't care."

Izuku looked down at his feet. He was absolutely nervous to let her, but she had sounded a bit desperate when she asked. With his crimson face he finally said, "I- I guess, y- yeah."

"Thank you." Now that she said that, there was no way he could back out of this.

He saw the girl walk her motorcycle closer to the sidewalk before he walked her to the apartment he and his mother shared. He took in a deep breath, put the key in the knob, heavily and nervously exhaled, and then opened the door. Slowly, he motioned her into the room. Izuku looked around and didn't see his mom. Yet.

"Nice place," she whispered. He was glad that she was quiet. However, just then, his mom walked into the room. Her eyes widened as she ran towards him.

"Izu, you're back! I was so worried about you!" she said as she embraced him into a tight hug. He could have sworn that she would actually squeeze the life out of him one day.

"Oh, you had a cute girlfriend and never told me?!" she asked when she saw Ritsuko after letting go.

"Sh- she's not my g- girlfriend, mom!"

"Oh, of course not~!" she sang.

"You must be Ms Midoryia," Ritsuko voiced.

"Please, call me Inko!"

"Alright. I'm Ritsuko. I'm staying here."

Izuku felt heat in his cheeks and put a hand on his face. _'She's so blunt!'_

"I'll go get you something to drink then!" his mom said.

"Tea?"

"Yes, I'll make some tea for all of us!"

"Mine hot please," Ritsuko requested. Inko nodded as she went to the kitchen.

"I- I'll, uh, g- get you s- something to change into," Izuku stuttered. He headed to his room to find something for her. His room was still full of All Might stuff even well into his second year. Although, he had gotten rid of a few of those things. _A few_.

Izuku went to his dresser and looked around for something she could wear. Ritsuko was a few inches taller than him, plus she had a decent chest, so whatever he got her would be tight on her. He managed to find the biggest shirt he had, which was a blank, light grey shirt with short sleeves. He also got a pair of red shorts for her to wear.

"Fanboy," Ritsuko blurted, startling him into a near heart attack. He didn't even know that she had followed him.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry."

He sighed and handed her the clothes. "H- here, y- you can ch- change into these."

She nodded, and he showed her where the bathroom was. Ritsuko went inside to get herself in the clothes he provided. When she came out Inko told them that the tea was finished. Her feet quickly brought her to the kitchen.

"Thank you," she voiced as she lifted her cup of tea.

"Of course! Anything for a friend of my little Izuku."

"Hey, mom," Izuku said as he turned the corner, "I'm going to get a spot ready for her to get to sleep."

"Why not let her sleep in your room?" his mom suggested, making a shade of pink light his face.

"I don't mind; as long as I get to sleep," Ritsuko stated. Izuku opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and walked away.

"Oh dear. We broke him," Inko said. Ritsuko picked up the cup of tea he was suppose to get.

"I'll take this to him."

"Goodnight, Ritsuko!"

The grey eyed girl made her way to his room. Once she got there she saw a few blankets and a pillow on the floor. She placed his tea on his desk while taking a sip of her own.

"You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the floor," Izuku informed her.

"Alright," Ritsuko replied quickly. She placed her cup on the desk having just finished it. Then she went over to his bed and layed down, wrapping the blankets around her. The boy went over go his desk and picked up a notebook. He shoved the book into his school bag and then zipped it up. When he stood back up he turned to her.

"Do you need anything before you-" He stopped talking when he realized that she was already asleep. A small smile appeared on his features.

Izuku glanced down to the hand that she had bandaged for him earlier in the day. When he went to school the next day he would ask Recovery Girl to help him.

The aspiring hero turned the lamp on his desk off and layed down in his makeshift bed. He could hear soft, quiet snores coming Ritsuko, but it didn't bother him at all. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep either.

 **Word Count: 3914**

 ** _~ Posted_** ** _September 20, 2018_**


	5. Striped Hyena

**_Chapter 4_**

 ** _Striped Hyena_**

Izuku woke to the smell of something good being made in the kitchen. It smelled like pancakes. When rubbed the sleep from his tired, green eyes, he got to his feet and got his stuff. He went to the bathroom and got ready for school. Once finished he made his way to the kitchen.

"- I just didn't know he would manifest such a dangerous quirk, let alone just a year ago."

"I saw him last year in the sports festival," Ritsuko said.

"Yeah, my little Izu was amazing!"

"He was."

Izuku walked into the kitchen, acting like he didn't over hear them.

"Oh, sweetie, try some of the breakfast that Ritsuko made!" Inko told him.

"She made it?" he asked. It was just some simple pancakes like he had smelled earlier. They had syrup on them, and they looked perfectly made. He went ahead and sat down at the table, picking up a fork. After cutting a small piece, he picked it up with his fork and placed it in his mouth.

"Hey, this is pretty good!" Izuku praised.

"Thanks," Ritsuko said with a monotone voice. Izuku quickly finished his food, and he went to go wash his dishes. However, Ritsuko took them from his hands and washed them herself. He tried to get her not to since she was a guest, but she just ignored him. After giving up he got his school bag and went to the door. He saw the light blue haired girl standing near it.

"Same time at the park?" he asked her. She nodded, and then he left for school. It didn't take too long to get there, and he was greeted by Uraraka and Iida by the gate.

"Hey, Deku!" she called, waving her hand at him. He waved back with a smile. The three quickly went into the school as the bell rung. They made it to their class a few minutes before the bell rang. As he waited, he had the feeling of being excited to see Ritsuko again. Thankfully, the school day seemed to go by pretty quickly. It was already lunch.

"Hey, we should go to the mall today!" Uraraka announced. Iida gave a nod in agreement.

"I have to go somewhere though," Izuku told them.

Uraraka slapped her hand down on the table next to his tray, causing it to bounce a little. With a bit of an excites tone she said, "We know you're meeting someone, so just bring her with us!"

"Wh- what makes you think I'm meeting someone?" Izuku said nervously. The two across from him paused for a second. Then Uraraka thought of an excuse.

"Your behavior has been peculiar, so I just kind of assumed it was because you're interested in a girl," she informed. He got a sense that she was lying, but he didn't say anything about. He sighed nervously before finally deciding what he would do. There was no reason for him to hide Ritsuko from them that he could see.

"F- fine! I'll ask her if she wants to come with us," he said.

"Yes! I knew you were interested in a girl!"

"I- I'm not 'interested'! I'm just f- friends with her; that's all!" Izuku protested. Then a throught ran through his head. _'At least I don't think I'm interested. No, I'm not into her like that!'_

Just seconds after this thought, the bell rang. They cleaned up after themselves and got to their class. They were required to do some simple worksheets. Anything not finished in class was homework. Luckily, Izuku managed to finish most of the work in class before the bell went off. All he had left to do was one sheet of paper, front and back. He quickly packed everything up and walked with his two friends to the front gate of the school. Although, he quickly stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar light blue haired girl standing by a black motorcycle. She had on black jeans, her white winter jacket, and a black shirt underneath. The girl was wearing the same white boots as last time. Her dark grey eyes gazed at him. The other two hadn't noticed her yet.

"What's wrong, Midoriya?" Iida questioned.

"Yeah, why did you stop walking?" Uraraka asked. Izuku shook his head and brushed past them, running straight to Ritsuko.

"W- what are y- you doing here? How did you even know I attend UA? I never told you." Izuku saw her place the white helmet that was in her hands on the bike.

"You were wearing your uniform when you left," she explained to him.

"O- oh. Right." He had completely forgotten that fact for some reason. The boy shook his head, "Do you w- want to come with me and my friends?"

"Where are they?"

As if on cue, the two walked over to them.

"Hello, I take it that you're friends with Deku! I'm Uraraka!"

"I'm Iida! It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ritsuko." The blue haired girl turned to Izuku for a moment. "Are they nice?"

"O- of course!" Izuku told her.

"What about my bike?" she asked. He wasn't so sure about that.

"We're going to the mall, so why don't you just drive there and meet us by the entrance?" Uraraka suggested. Ritsuko seemed a little uneasy, but she nodded anyway.

"Okay." The three watched the girl get on her bike and drive off towards the mall.

"Hmmmm... Any feelings for her yet, Deku?" the brown haired girl teased.

"N- no! What makes you say that?!" Izuku said defensively.

"Hmm, are you sure?"

"Y- yes!" She studied his nervous and flustered stature.

"Alright, let's go!" the brunette said with excitement. Izuku somehow managed to get even redder than he already was as they started walking to their destination. While on the way there, Iida suggested that they finish their homework at some point while they were there. Izuku and Uraraka agreed.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the mall. When they got to the entrance, they didn't see Ritsuko right away. Although, after looking around for a few more seconds, Iida spotted her.

"She's over there!" he told them.

"Hey, Ritsuko!" Izuku called out to her, grabbing her attention.

"Hey," she replied simply, much like always. The girl followed the three onto the large building. They were talking to each other, and she was just listening.

"Then we should stop by somewhere to eat. There, we will do some of our homework together," Uraraka declared, and the two boys nodded. "Now, let the shopping commence!"

Ritsuko was near Izuku for almost the entire time. She didn't trust the other two as much as she did him, but she wasn't going to admit that. Yes, she was usually blunt and spoke her mind and opinions, but not with everything. This was one of those things. After all, they were his friends, and she didn't want to harm the relationship Izuku had with them.

"Hey, want to check out a shop with me, Ritsuko?" the brunette girl asked.

"Which one?"

"A shop that these two boys cannot go in," she said, pointing to a shop full of women's clothing and accessories. The taller girl looked to the boys with her grey eyes. Iida was standing straight, and Izuku was red in the face.

Ritsuko glanced down slightly, " I guess."

"Awesome!" Uraraka cheered. She was about to take Ritsuko by the hand, but she quickly pulled her hand back. The brunette stared for a moment, but then she led the way to the shop.

The shorter girl seemed excited as they entered. She sauntered over to a rack that had some dresses on them. Ritsuko followed behind her, but not as close as she would with Izuku. The girl in front of her pulled out a white dress that faded to a cyan blue towards the bottom. It was held out towards the blue haired girl, and her brown eyes went from the dress and then to her.

"I think you would look nice in this one!" Uraraka told her. Then she got a black dress that had three horizontal white stripes. One across the chest, one across the waist, and one at the bottom. "Or this one."

"I can try them I guess," Ritsuko announced, gently taking the two articles of clothing from her without her index fingers thouching them. She made her way into a changing room at the back and locked it. It took a minute for her to slip into the first dress which was the white and cyan one. It was rather loose on her and reached a bit above her ankles. After it was on she exited the small room and saw Uraraka.

"Wow, you look really pretty in that dress!" the shorter girl praised.

"I'll buy it then," Ritsuko said before going back into the changing room. She removed the dress and put on the other one. The black dress was much tighter and shorter than the previous one. This one really showed off her curves and chest, and it reached to her mid thighs. The girl left the room to show the brunette.

"That one really shows you off," she told her. "Although, you still look really pretty with that one too!"

"I'll get this too then," Ritsuko said. She went back into the room and got back into her original clothes. When she got out Uraraka took her place in the small changing room. She came out with simple outfits and dresses, and Ritsuko would either say 'pretty', 'looks good on you', or 'maybe not that'. By the end they both went to the counter to pay for their clothing. The brunette walked away with a few dresses and outfits she tried on, and Ritsuko just had the two dresses she tried.

"By the way, I really like that necklace, Ritsuko!" she suddenly admitted. It made her place a finger under the sparkly, dark blue heart.

"Thanks," she said. They went over to the two boys that were seated on a couch in the middle of the large walkway just outside the store.

"Hey, guys!" Uraraka said once she was standing beside the piece of furniture. "We were able to get some things."

"Perfect! Now let's go eat some food!" Iida confidently said as him and Izuku stood up. Ritsuko trailed them, being closest to Izuku. They went up an escalator to the floor above. The machinery led them right to the food court. It was Iida and Uraraka that picked which place to get the food, and they settled on one of the simple fast food places. It took only a few minutes for them to get their food before they found a table to sit at. Ritsuko saw Izuku sit down on one side, so she sat right beside him. After a few minutes of them eating and talking, she saw Iida be the first to get out the homework they had received from school.

"I think it is about time we begun doing our homework!" he announced. The other two got out a piece of paper from their bags.

"Alright, but we're using your textbook to save room on the table," Uraraka said, and Izuku nodded.

"That's fine with me," Iida told the brunette.

Meanwhile, Ritsuko was still just silently eating her food. By the time she was finished, which was after about five minutes, she was finally spoken to.

"Hey, Ritsuko, what school do you attend?" Uraraka questioned her.

"I don't go to school."

"Then where do you learn?"

"I learn whenever and wherever I can," she answered vaguely.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Iida asked her.

"I'm not home schooled either, so I have to teach myself."

"Alright, what is your best and worst subject?" the brunette inquired.

"My best is reading and writing, my worst is math."

"I can help you with math if you want," Izuku suggested confidently. She thought about it for a moment.

"Alright," she replied. It seemed to make the boy happy since he grew a smile. Ritsuko continued to watch them do their worksheets. From what she heard them say, she guessed it was something related to the rules a pro hero must follow. It was weird hearing it since both her parents are villians, and she was around villains all the time. Due to that, she considered herself one. She wasn't going to tell them that though, especially Izuku. He was pretty much her father's number one enemy. If he knew that he was his daughter, he would probably go against her as well.

"What time is it?" Ritsuko asked. Izuku got out his phone and looked at the time.

"It's 4:48," he answered before putting it back in his pocket.

"Do you have a phone, Ritsuko?" Uraraka questioned. The blue haired girl shook her head.

"Do your parents not allow it?" Iida asked, a bit puzzled.

"I never ask for one; I have no need for it right now," she told them. They looked surprised.

"How are you going to talk to your friends when you aren't with them?" Iida inquired.

"I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because I only have one friend. I've never needed anymore."

Izuku shook his head, "But friends help you out when you need something. You can talk to them about troubles or worries you have."

"I figure it out on my own." Ritsuko took the last bite of her food. The four were quiet for a few moments until the subject was changed.

"Hey, how about we go to a few more shops before we head home?" Uraraka suggested. The others agreed since they had just finished all of their homework. They packed everything up, and the four went down the escalator. Just like nearly the whole time before, Ritsuko remained the closest to Izuku.

The group walked into a small store full of a mix of clothes, accessories, and stuff animals. They split into two groups, Iida and Uraraka, and Izuku and Ritsuko.

As they walked around the shop, her dark grey eyes landed on a stuffed animal. It was a medium sized striped hyena. She put a finger on its nose.

\--

 _"This one!" a young girl said. She was only six years old. Her dark grey eyes were looking into a book. The picture her eyes were fixed on was one of a striped hyena._

 _"That's a striped hyena," a woman said with a smile. She had dark brown hair and the same dark grey eyes that the little girl possessed. "They are from Africa. They may look like a dog, but they aren't counted as one."_

 _"So it's a cat?"_

 _The woman chuckled a little, "No, they aren't a cat either. They're so unique that they have their own name." She turned back a page, starting at the beginning of the hyena information. "Their family name is the Hyaenidae."_

 _"Can I have one?"_

 _"Sorry, Ritsuko, but we can't get_ _one."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"They're expensive, and they are illegal to have without a license too." She saw the little girl frown from her statement. "Although, I can see about getting you a stuff animal, Ritsuko!"_

 _The girl perked up at this. "Really, mom?"_

 _"Yes, sweetie!" she said in a loving tone, "I'll look around and get one for you."_

\--

She removed her finger from the nose of the stuffed striped hyena. Then she picked it up and held it out in front of her.

"Do you want that?" she heard Izuku ask.

"Yes," she replied. It took the boy a second to realize that Ritsuko had a faint smile.

"Do you really like hyenas?"

"I do. My mom was going to get me a stuffed animal a long time ago," she informed to him. He heard her say 'was going to', and it peaked his curiosity.

"What do you mean by 'was going to'? Did she change her mind?"

Ritsuko shook her head, "She died before she was able to get one."

Izuku's eyes widened for a moment. Hearing that made him feel bad for her. He saw her put it back on the wooden shelf. "Don't you want to get it?"

"It's expensive, and I didn't bring that much money," she explained.

"I can get it for you," he offered.

"No, don't waste your money on me," she said before exploring more of the store. He stepped closer to the stuffed animal and read the price tag. She was right saying it was expensive, but he knew that he just enough for it. Izuku would have enough to get a cheap drink on his way home if he were to get it. He guessed that Ritsuko had a special love for hyenas thanks to her mother, so he wanted to make sure that she got it. Without caring if it would take up most of the cash he had left, he picked it up and took it to the cashier. After he payed for it, he went to search for Ritsuko.

"Ritsuko!" he called in an indoor volume. She turned her head towards him. Then he placed the striped hyena in her hands. Like always when he saw her holding or touching something, one of her fingers on both hands didn't touch it. This time it was her pinky fingers.

"I said I don't have enough for it," she said. Izuku smiled sheepishly.

"I know; I bought it for you." She was about to open her mouth to say something, but she stopped and closed it. Her dark eyes just stared into his green ones for a few moments. Then he saw her pull the stuffed animal to her chest and looked at it.

"Thank you," she whispered, another small smile appearing on her lips. Knowing that he was part of the reason she was smiling made him turn red in the face.

"H- how a- about we go f- find the o- others?" he stuttered out nervously.

"Alright," she answered.

The two walked around a little before they spotted them at the counter. They quickly went over to them just as they finished paying. The four then exited the shop. Uraraka had bought a simple keychain with an owl. Iida got a shirt that had the words 'When In Doubt, Study'. It fit him and his personality perfectly.

"Aw, that's a cute stuffed animal, Ritsuko!" Uraraka cheerily said with a big smile.

"Thanks, Izuku bought it for me," she told the brunette. The shorter girl turned to the green haired boy, a weird look on her face. It made Izuku blush again.

"That explains why he doesn't have anything," Iida pointed out.

"Well, she didn't have enough money, but she really wanted it, so I bought it for her," Izuku said a bit quickly. It made Uraraka laugh a little. Then she got out her phone and checked the time.

"Wow, we spent more time in there than I thought!" she exclaimed. "It's 5:30!"

"Right, well, we all should get home then," Iida voiced. They all went to the door that they entered a few hours ago. Uraraka and Iida said a farewell and left, leaving just Izuku and Ritsuko.

"I'll drive you home," Ritsuko declared, walking toward her motorcycle.

"O- oh, okay."

It took only a minute or so to get to her bike. Once they did, she handed him the same black helmet he used last time before she put on her white one. He placed it on his head before hesitantly getting on the bike behind her. Like last time she tensed, but she quickly relaxed. He heard her exhale through the helmet she wore before she made the bike go forward.

They quickly left the parking lot and got onto the main road. Izuku watched all the cars and people they passed. Being on the bike made him feel excited since he had never been on a bike until yesterday. This being his second time, it still gave him a rush of adrenaline. As they got closer to his house, she made a sharp turn. Out of instinct to keep himself from falling off he tightly wrapped his arms around Ritsuko's stomach. He didn't even register how much she tensed from his sudden hold. He kept his green eyes shut until he felt the bike stop. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"You can let go now," she told him. She hid it well, but he could tell that she was a bit uncomfortable from the way his arms were around her. Quickly, he released her, got off the bike, and handed her the helmet.

"S- sorry! I- I just got a l- little scared when y- you made that turn," he explained nervously with pink cheeks.

"It's alright," she assured. He let out a breath of relief.

"Um, m- maybe after I get out of school tomorrow we can meet like we have been," he suggested. "I mean, only if you want to."

Ritsuko turned her head to him, "I can't tomorrow."

"Maybe Saturday?"

"Not then either," she said. After a few moments she added, "Possibly Sunday."

"Oh, okay. That can work. Just come by, I guess," he told her. Izuku saw her nod before putting her helmet on and driving off.

The boy quickly went into his house. He said a 'hello' to his mom before going to his room. After closing the door, he went to his computer and turned it on. Izuku pulled up a map of the city and looked at the forested area around him. Recalling what the girl Ritsuko chatted with said, he went to the place that she had mentioned. The place with the giant fireworks display that happened last year. He made a mental note of how to get there and estimated that, from his house, it would take about two hours to get there on foot since the forest was on the other side of the large city. It was at midnight, so he would have to leave at around nine to get there sooner. That meant he would get there at about eleven. He didn't like lying to his mom in the slightest, but he would tell her that he was going to a party with his friends.

With all this in mind, he turned the computer off and layed down on his bed. He felt like he needed to go to whatever this race was. That was why he was going to go. Even if his mom told him he couldn't go anywhere, but he highly doubted that she would disagree with him going. Especially if he said he was doing something with his friends.

~~~

As soon as Ritsuko arrived at home, she went to her room. She gently placed the striped hyena stuff animal Iuzku bought her on the pillow of her bed. Her eyes glanced at the clock on her nightstand beside her bed. It was 7:48.

Ritsuko let out a sigh as she went back into the hallway. After going down a hall and then through a door, she ended up in the kitchen. The girl went to the a cabinet and got out a container of cookies. She ate a few as a snack before placing the container back where she found it. Then she began making her way to her room. On the way, the pain that was always present in her right hip spiked. It caused her to stumbled to the ground.

"Where the hell were you last night?!" It was a familiar angry blonde. This is one of the times she decided she should fight back. The outcome could be good or bad, but she had nothing to really lose.

Ritsuko stood up and turned to face Haze. She bent down enough to grab a switchblade from her boots. There was always a blade on her for not only self defense, but to let her use her other quirk. The quirk she got from her mother.

"What are you going to do with that knife?" he asked dangerously with a smile. Her answer was her pulling up her sleeve and cutting her arm. Instead of red blood, it was black. Without warning, she swiftly waved her arm, causing the liquid to land on Haze. Suddenly a sharp pain spread through his side. When his brown eyes opened, he saw a few thin spikes stabbing him from where she had cut her arm.

"I forgot about that quirk. You can harden your blood and use it as a weapon, right?" he questioned. She nodded and retracted the hardened spikes of black blood from his side. Ritsuko was about to use her quirk again, but a purple portal appeared in front of her. She ended up walking through, and she stepped out behind a mist guy.

"Enough fighting," the mist said. "There's no need to hurt each other; we're on the same side after all."

Haze let out a scoff, "Whatever." Then he just simply walked away.

"Sorry, Kurogiri," Ritsuko mumbled and walked back to her room. The pain in her right hip died down slightly, but it wasn't enough for her. It would be once it completely disappeared, but that was never going to happen. The injury and pain was permanent, and she was aware of that.

Doing her best to ignore it, she turned off the lamp in her room and layed down. Ritsuko held the striped hyena Izuku got her close to her chest. It made her feel a bit happier. She liked his kindness. By now she's gotten used the that weird feeling he made her have when they were together.

Ritsuko buried her chin into the head of the stuffed animal. She closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come quickly so she could stop feeling the pain in her hip.

She was really looking forward to seeing Izuku again soon.

 **Word Count:** **4319**

 **Dang, quite a long chapter! It makes me a tiny bit more proud of myself**.

 **A** **nyway, I would like to thank those who are giving the story reviews! I make sure to read all of them so I can make my writing better. It's also fun reading what you guys think about the story so far!**

 ** _~ Posted_** ** _October 6, 2018_**


	6. Racer

**_Chapter 5_**

 ** _Racer_**

The last school day of the week. Friday. As such, everyone was excited to spend their weekend. Izuku was one of those people as well. He felt excited about going to that race tomorrow and to see Ritsuko since he knew she would be there. Although, he was also worried. If it was a traditional race like he was thinking, one with vehicles, it was most likely set up illegally since it was far from the city. That meant no one could know that he had gone there.

When lunch came around he decided to sit by himself. Izuku went outside after getting his food. There was a tree that had no one around it, so he decided to rest there. He ate his food as he thought about tomorrow. The boy had ideas of what he would bring just in case for self defense. If was actually setup like he was thinking, there would most likely be tons of villians to see the race. Using his quirk would be bad for him since he can still easily over do it and use more than he should. That would break his bones with ease. Although, he didn't really have a good weapon to protect himself aside from One For All. All he had were some hand to hand combat skills, but that wouldn't do much against them. He knew the villians would play dirty and use weapons along with their quirks.

Izuku looked up at the leaves above him. The light breeze caused them to sway a little bit. Then he heard the bell go off, so he quickly finished and got up. He went to a trashcan close by and threw everything away. It took only a few minutes to get to class. When he got there he sat down at his desk.

Luckily, he was able to pay attention to class for the most part. It was just another day of going over hero material from the textbook. Their homework was very simple as well, so he could do it in about ten minutes. Everything he had was already packed by the time the bell went off to dismiss the students.

He walked all the way to his house as soon as school was over. His mother greeted him, and he told her how his day went like he did almost everytime he got home. Then he went to his room to change his attire. Since he was going back out he put on blue jeans, a white shirt, his black hoodie, and his usual red boots. When he got to the front door his mother questioned him.

"Where are you going, Izuku?"

"Oh, there's a little party my classmates are throwing. One of them gave me some money to get some things and drop it off at their house," he lied. His mother believed him without question.

"Alright, Izu, stay safe," Inko told him.

"I will, mom!" he said with a smile as he closed the door. Izuku walked down the sidewalk. He followed it until he got further into the city. The place he was going would give him what he needed. A good weapon he could use to defend himself. It was a place he definitely did not want to be recognized in. As a precaution, he pulled up the hood of his hoodie to cover his signature wild green hair. It would also help hide his freckles a little.

When he got to the store, he looked around. It was a store that was in a more empty area of the large city. He knew no one that knew him would be in the area since it was a pretty shady one, but he was just being careful. The store had weapons like knifes and guns, but he wanted something simple. He halted in front a large case of switchblades. They were easy to conceal, so they would be ideal for him. All he had to do was pick one that he liked.

They were all unique. All of them looked different and were various colors. He looked at them, but mostly focused on the ones in his price range. In another glass case, he saw one that caught his green eyes. It wasn't a switchblade, but it was cool. It was a butterfly knife. The blade was silver and curved slightly, and the hilt was black with purple highlights. Fairly simple, but he thought it was cool. Plus, the knife was barely in his price range as well. The blade was a bit shorter than five inches, so that meant he could legally conceal the knife in his pockets or his boots. The man behind the counter seemed to notice him staring at it, so he walked over to him.

"If you have enough for it just get it," he said. Izuku looked up to him and thought for a second. If he were to commit, what would the others think? _If_ they found out, and he was determined not to let them.

"Yeah," he said, pulling out his wallet. He placed the money needed as the man got the butterfly knife out of the glass counter. He gently placed the knife on top of the glass and took the money. After he counted it and it was the correct amount, he slid the knife over to him.

"Thank you for your business," he told him. Izuku nodded, took the knife, and went outside of the store. His green eyes looked at the butterfly knife in his hand. It felt strange to him that he actually had one in his hand. He'd never held one like this; it was only kitchen or butter knives for the most part. Although, he had it now, so he better be able to use it well when the time comes.

He began to make his way home, but it seemed too early to go back from doing what he said he was. To make it more believable, he walked around a bit instead. Izuku stayed in the more empty part of the city though. Eventually, he stopped at the back of an abandoned building. After looking around for a few moments, he took out the butterfly knife he bought no more than twenty minutes ago. He was aware that people could do really cool tricks with them, but he had to start from the basics first before he attempted any of that. Until he felt comfortable at the very least.

Slowly, he got the blade out and then closed it with both his hands. He repeated this a few times before managing to do it with one hand. When he got a bit more comfortable with it in his hand, he began to do it at a quicker pace. The fourth time he did it, he accidentally cut his finger. Thankfully, it wasn't bad at all. Ignoring the small amount of pain in his finger, he continued.

Izuku practiced until the sun began to go down, accidentally cutting his fingers a few times. He hadn't even realized how late it was; he had completely lost track of time. Shoving the butterfly knife into his right boot, he quickly made his way home. Luckily the only cuts on his fingers were small. It didn't take that long since he wasn't too far away, but it was plenty of time for him to think about what he was doing.

 _'I'm committing. I've bought a knife for self defense in the worst case scenario, so I can't change my mind anymore. Plus, I need to figure out why Ritsuko would be going to that race,'_ he thought to himself. When he got home, his mother greeted him.

"Sorry I was out kind of late. We ended up going to another store to get a few other things. It was just some decorations," he lied again. Like she did this morning, Inko believed him.

"That's alright. Dinner will be done in a few minutes, so you got back at the perfect time."

"Oh, also, that party tomorrow is going to be pretty late, so I might stay the night with them. That, or I will be back sometime past, like, one in the morning or something," he explained. It was a half truth since he was going to be back well past one in the morning. He would probably be back around 3:00 am since he knew it would take nearly an hour. Plus, it was a two hour walk from his house to the spot in the forest.

"I would prefer that you would stay at their house so you don't have to walk around at night," she told him. "When are you going to leave tomorrow?"

"At around eight," he informed. Izuku wanted to leave earlier than he originally planned, which was at nine. Leaving at eight meant that he could get a snack on the way so he had something to eat while he was there.

"Alright, you better stay safe while you're out, Izuku!"

"You know I will, mom," he assured her with a smile. Just then, the timer on the food in the kitchen went off. He sat down at the dinner table as his mom went and got the food ready. After a minute or two she placed a bowl in front of him. It was simple soup, but he knew it would be amazing since his mother was the one that made it. Once it was cool, he took a spoonful. Just like he thought, it tasted wonderful.

The first spoonful made him realize just how hungry he was. He was so focused on practicing with the knife and thinking about tomorrow that he forgot about everything else. His new found hunger made him finish the soup pretty quickly.

"Wow, that was fast," Inko said as he got up. He had a sheepish smile as he went to the sink and wash his dishes. After that, he went to his room. Since he was late, he decided he would go to bed a bit earlier than usual. He wanted to have extra energy for tomorrow anyways since he was going to be up well past midnight. It would be a bit of a challenge though since he didn't stay up that late very often to begin with.

~~~

It was the middle of the night.

Izuku was woken up by the sound of his phone. With his eyes still closed, he felt around on top of the nightstand until his hand landed on his phone. When he stood it up and pressed the button to turn it on, he slowly opened his eyes. Once his sight was adjusted to the bright light, he looked at the notification he received. It was Uraraka texting him. At 3:30 in the morning. It did annoy him slightly, but only for a moment. He let out a tired sigh as he unlocked his phone and read the message.

 _Uraraka: Hey deku are you up_

 _Izuku: I am now_

 _Uraraka: Sorry but i just cant go to sleep. Youre the first person that i thought of to text and see if they were up_

 _Izuku: Oh what do you want to talk about_

 _Uraraka: Do you maybe want to hang out tomorrow? I can text iida later_

 _Izuku: Cant i have something important to do tomorrow._

 _Uraraka: Oh ok maybe sunday_

 _Izuku: Maybe but we will see_

 _Uraraka: What are you doing though_

 _Izuku: texting you instead of sleeping..._

 _Uraraka: No well yeah but i meant tomorrow or i guess later today since it is saturday already_

 _Izuku: I was going to go somewhere_

 _Uraraka: You like ritsuko too much youve been hanging out with her everyday since you met her last week_

 _Izuku: Its not with her! Its something by myself_

 _Uraraka: Adding the exclamation point i see. Youre probably buying something for her_

Izuku didn't respond to her text right away like he did with the others. It made her feel even more suspicious. Knowing that he was hanging out with Ritsuko more than with her made her jealous. She already came to accept the crush she had on him toward the end of last year. When the thought of him liking someone in that way that wasn't her made her feel extremely jealous. She was ready to fight for him too if she had to.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She quickly looked at the screen.

 _Izuku: Im not buying anything for her_

 _Uraraka: Why wait five minutes to respond then_

 _Izuku: Cuz im tired. Im going to go back to sleep ill text you later_

~~~

Izuku woke up rather slowly. He still felt really tired. When he looked at the clock he instantly shot up to a sitting position. It was nearly two in the afternoon.

 _'I've never woken up this late before,'_ he thought to himself. He looked on his nightstand again and saw a note.

 _You must have been really tired Izu since you were asleep for so long. There is some food in the kitchen for you. I'll be back at around 3:00 since I had to get some things from the store._

 _~ Mom_

He quickly got up and got some clothes for him to wear outside. Then he went and took a short shower. Izuku's attire was a pair of black jeans and a black short sleeve shirt. When he was done he went to the kitchen and got the food his mother mentioned in the note. It didn't take long for him to finish it either.

Izuku cleaned the dishes he used and went to couch. With the remote, he flicked through the channels to find something. However, when he didn't find anything interesting, he decided to go back to his room. He got on his bed after making sure his phone was charging. It needed to be at a hundred percent by the time he left so he wouldn't need to worry about it dying.

Like the note said, he heard his mother return at around three. He went out to help her put everything away. Afterwards, he waited in his room until he had to leave.

Just a few minutes before eight, he made sure that he had everything he needed. His phone was fully charged, he had his wallet along with some money, and he had that butterfly knife in his right boot of he needed to defend himself. Everything was in check.

Before exiting his room, he slipped his black hoodie on over his head. Then he went to the front door after telling his mother that he was going. He reminded her of his lie that he might be staying the night else where since he was going to be out so late. She bid him farewell as he closed the door. He made his way to a nearby store and got a few simple snacks and a water bottle. After that, he began making his way to the spot in the forest. He had gone over the quickest path again. Just to be safe, he had a picture on his phone and marked where to go so he wouldn't get lost.

Izuku got to his destination at about eleven just like he had estimated. There were tons of people in the area. He could tell from the way that they looked, talked, acted, and showed off their quirks that nearly all of them were most likely villains. Knowing that made him feel uneasy, but he still resumed his exploration of the place.

There were a few places for food and drinks. He also saw a bunch of lights to allow people to see where they were going. Izuku walked a bit more before looking at the time. It was 11:55. Then someone suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Watch it, kid, you're walking right into the track," the tall guy said. Sure enough, he looked forward and saw a large dirt road. On the path were a bunch of motorcycle and the drivers. He counted twenty racers in the track. Then he did a double take at the drivers. Izuku stared at one in particular until he finally registered who it was. They were wearing blue jeans, black leather boots, a white shirt, a black jacket, and a black leather jacket over it. Their face was hidden behind a white fox mask, and they had the hood of their black jacket up to cover their hair. Still, he knew exactly who it was from the bike and from the shape of her body.

It was Ritsuko, and she was one the racers.

 **Word Count:** **2784**

 **I know that it's probably a bit weird that our adorable cinnamon roll bought a knife, but I have a few different uses planned for it in future chapters.**

 ** _~ Posted_** ** _October 23, 2018_**


	7. Closer Than Before

**_Chapter 6_**

 ** _Closer Than Before_**

 _'I didn't think Ritsuko was one of the drivers. I thought that girl she talked to was one and that she just wanted her to watch,'_ he thought in his head. Although, it made since that she would be in the race. After all, Ritsuko drove a motorcycle, and he could tell that she was very experienced when it came to driving it.

Suddenly, a large digital screen appeared above the drivers. Izuku knew that it was a surveillance quirk of some sort. On the screen was a male with a rabbit mask on to hide his face.

"Welcome, welcome!" he said in a cheery tone while moving around energetically, "I thank all of you for coming to this wonderful motorcycle race! The rules are simple: get to the finish line. Only the racers may use their quirks as they please to stop the other racers. You may also use objects on you to hit and distract the other racers. If your fall off your bike, you lose! Any quirk is usable in this race! There also may be a few of you that are partners in this race. If that is the case, just know that only one of you can get first place for the money prize!"

The people around Izuku began to cheer. Below the screen a digital count down appeared. It was most likely from the same quirk user creating the screen. The counter started at five and went down to zero. When it buzzed, the twenty racers instantly zoomed forward. The engines of the bikes were extremely loud as well, and it made Izuku cover his ears for a few seconds. He looked up to the screen, and it showed the drivers from above.

The screen focused on three drivers, two males and one female. One of the males got closer to the other one. He was able to touch the guy's bike, and it caused their bike to stall. On top of that, the man pushed on the bike with his hand. It caused the guy to fall over, bringing his motorcycle down with him. The driver that made him lose drove to be side by side with the girl. Izuku thought that he was going to use his quirk on her motorcycle, but he quickly realized that they were partners when she let him go past her.

The screen moved toward the front of the racers. He saw that Ritsuko was one of them, and she was in third place. A girl behind her caught up to her, only being a little behind her. He saw Ritsuko pull something out of her leather boots. The screen got a good view of it to show that it was a knife. She held it up as she looked back. The girl behind her looked surprised as she threw the knife at her. The blade of the knife became imbedded in the front tire of the girl's motorcycle, resulting in it popping. The girl lost control of her bike and fell, letting others quickly pass her by.

It showed a few other places of the race until it eventually came back to Ritsuko. She was right beside the second place driver. The guy raised a knife and stabbed at her to try and make her fall off. However, she was able to raise her right arm in time. The knife was in her forearm now as she drove to the side. Izuku's green eyes widened when he saw her nearly tip over, but she quickly managed to steady herself. Ritsuko then pulled the knife out and drove closer. She held her arm out, and three thin black spikes from the wound pierced his side, shoulder, and knee. It caused him to lose his balance. His sudden fall made the spikes break before she retracted them.

 _'That must be her quirk. That's cool!'_ Izuku praised in his head. _'Now she's in second place!'_

He saw that she wasn't far behind the first place holder. The man in first place looked back and saw her approaching fast. He slowed down so he was beside her. His hand was letting off a weird a glow, and he was reaching out for her shoulder. However, her hand was already on his motorcycle. This was the first time Izuku had ever seen her touch something with all of her fingers. He saw her kick his bike to propel them apart after that. The guy's bike began to turn grey starting from where she touched it. In a panic, the guy jumped off his bike. Just as he hit the dirt, the vehicle turn completely grey before crumbling like ash.

Izuku was too full of adrenaline from watching the race that he didn't register the nature of her other quirk. He didn't put two and two together that she had the exact same quirk as his most dangerous enemy.

 _'Wow, that quirk is really cool too! The fact that she has two different quirks is awesome!'_ he thought excitedly.

Ritsuko was in first place now, and she had a pretty good lead as well. Except the two most problematic drivers were behind her: the guy with the stalling quirk and his female partner. Izuku knew she had to be very careful while dealing with them. Luckily, her bike seemed to be faster than theirs. Despite that, Ritsuko still slowed down so they could get closer.

 _'No, don't do that, Ritsuko!'_ he yelled in his head as he furrowed his eyebrows. _'Your motorcycle is faster; you can win without them catching up!'_ People around him seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Why is she slowing down?! She can beat them with speed with that amazing bike!"

"That girl in first needs to win; I made a bet on her!"

The three were fairly close now. The guy caught up with her, and he was about to touch her bike. Fortunately, she slowed down to get out of his reach. On her way back, she placed her hand on the back of his bike. It caused his motorcycle to turn grey like the last guy's. Having the same reaction, the man jumped off his bike like the last driver. The female partner seemed to be taken off guard, probably because she didn't expect him to lose. Ritsuko took this to her advantage and touched her bike as well, causing her to do the same thing as the two previous racers.

When it was calm in Ritsuko's area of the track, it showed the other drivers participating. All of them had a useful ability for the race. Of course, some were better than others.

Izuku looked at the map of the track that showed where all the remaining racers were. He relaxed when realizing that she was pretty far in the lead. Her marker showed her making the turns in the track, and she was quickly approaching the finish line. It was right where the race had started.

The screen kept showing the other racers until he could hear the loud engine of Ritsuko's motorcycle. A few seconds after, his green eyes spotted her turning the corner into everyone's sight. The crowd cheered loudly, and she was able to cross the finish line without incident.

Ritsuko stopped her bike, and she was close to Izuku. He saw her look around, and he could have sworn that she stared at him for a good five seconds. Then the remaining racers began to file in and pass the line. All the while everyone was cheering wildly. Even Izuku let out a loud excited sqeal. The whole thing just made his blood pump like crazy. This was probably the most invigorating event he had witnessed in a very long time aside from his hero training at UA.

Izuku saw Ritsuko get off her bike and walk while she dragged it beside her. She was walking right toward him. It made him nervous, but he stood in place. The girl stopped when she was right in front of him. Since she was a few inches taller than him, she bent down to make sure he would hear her over the loud and excited screaming around them.

"Go to the drink stands," she ordered through her fox mask before walking away, dragging her bike with her. Then he heard a voice from the large screen above. It was the same guy with the rabbit mask.

"Thank you all for coming to this eventful race! These are our top three winners!" he said cheerily as the screen flashed once. It showed a guy with a red devil mask in third, a girl with a brown dog mask in second, and Ritsuko with her white fox mask on in first place. Then it went back to the man with the rabbit mask. "Again, thank you all for coming! Soon there will be word of another place at another location along with the specifications, so please do be wary of that!"

With that, the screen vanished, and the giant crowd began to slowly disperse. Izuku was able to get out of the big group of people. It took a minute due to not knowing how the place was set up and the numerous people surrounding him, but he was able to find the drink stands Ritsuko was talking about. After standing for a few seconds, he felt someone tap his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a really tall guy. The glint in the man's eyes told the boy that he had no good intentions on his mind.

"No offense, kid, but you seem like you don't belong here," he said in a slightly threatening tone. "You should run along. Although, before you do, you should hand over a bit of money. Let's say... all of it!"

Izuku wasn't quite sure of what he should do. His first thought was that he should go look for Ritsuko instead. However, he knew the villain wouldn't let him do that. That meant he had to talk his way out of the situation. To make it convincing, he tried his best to sound villainous. However, it made him feel weird since he was being the complete opposite of a hero. With a smile he said, "I think I'll pass on that, but thanks for suggesting the option."

"Unfortunately for you, it wasn't an invitation. Hand it all over!" he demanded. The man took a step forward. Izuku knew that he wasn't intimidating in the least given his much smaller form, so he had an idea that might make him seem more like a villain. Hopfully more threatening looking as well. The green haired boy quickly bent down and pulled the butterfly knife out from his boot. He got the blade out in front of him, pointing it directly at the villain. On the outside he may have looked like he had some intention of hurting him, but in reality that was not the case. Truthfully, he wasn't going to hurt him. He just did his best to seem dangerous so the man wouldn't hurt him.

"Oh, look at that, the pipsqueak has a weapon. Not that it will do much," the guy mocked. Izuku wavered for a moment. The man walked forward again, causing him to take a step back. Then he saw the girl with a fox mask on and a hood over her hair. She had her left hand on the guy's arm, only her index finger hovering above his skin.

"If you attempt to lay finger on him, I will not hesitate to end your life," she said. From the venomous tone of the voice, Izuku couldn't help but shiver. Ritsuko sounded very serious as well.

"Or what? You gonna hurt me?" The man said the last sentence as if he were speaking to a child.

"If all my fingers make contact with your arm, it will rapidly decay. I'm sure that you don't want that since you probably still want it. After all, it would be ashame if you were no longer able to do anything to make yourself happy." Being the innocent teen Izuku was, he didn't know what she meant by that. However, the man apparently did as he had turned to her with an angry expression.

"Bitch, you wouldn't dare!" he threatened. Ritsuko quickly moved away from him, taking something from his pocket as she did so. As she stopped beside Izuku she raised her hand to display a red and blue cellphone. "Hey, that's my phone!"

"Oh, I know. That's how I got it from your pocket," she said like it was obvious. Then, without a second thought, she put all her fingers on the device. The phone turned grey and then crumbled to the ground through her fingers after it turned to dust. It caught the man by surprise, and it made him take a step backwards. He let out a low growl before walking off, mumbling under his breath in rage.

Izuku folded his butterfly knife and shoved it back into his red boot. Then he looked up to Ritsuko. She was in the middle of taking off her fox mask. After that she removed the hood from her head. Her light blue hair was tied into a loose bun as well. He also just registered that she had a bag with a somewhat fancy and complex design on it. He assumed it contained the money reward the rabbit masked guy was talking about.

"I didn't peg you as someone to carry a knife with you," Ritsuko stated. He tensed a little.

"Y- yeah, I bought it for self defense. I had a feeling that this place was going to be a spot for villains. Since I'm still not the best with my quirk I didn't want to use it," he explained. After a few seconds she gave him a nod.

"Follow," she commanded before walking off. He trailed behind her until they stopped at a place serving drinks. Izuku wasn't sure what kind they were. To play it safe, he stuck with his bottle of water. However, he was only able to get one more sip before he realized it was empty. He was taking drinks from it during the race without even realizing it. Izuku still had a chocolate bar that he had bought, so he started to eat that instead. Then he remembered something important.

"Hey, is your arm alright?" he asked worriedly. "It got hit during the race, and it looked kind of bad." She nodded.

"My quirk hardens my blood," she explained.

"So you can stop your bleeing?"

"If the wound isn't too deep or big, yes," she answered. Then there were drinks placed on the counter in front of them. There was one for each of them. Thirsty from the chocolate he ate, he took a drink from the clean glass. Whatever it was was strong, and it made him shake his head as he gave a bit of a sour face. However, the aftertaste was actually rather refreshing. It made him take another drink.

"What are you doing here, Izuku?" he heard Ritsuko question. After taking another drink he turned to her.

"I- I heard you and that girl Wednesday night mention this race. I was really curious, so I decided to come," he explained.

"Oh," was all she said in response. He looked at her for a moment before finishing the drink he had. Izuku wasn't even sure what it was, but it was fairly good. Then he saw Ritsuko slide her untouched drink to him.

"You apparently like it more than I do," she said. The boy looked at her with an uncertain look, but she nodded to signify that it was alright. Hesitantly, he decided to accept her offer. Afterwards, however, he started to feel a bit out of it. His head began to spin slightly as another drink was placed in front of him. Hoping it would help clear his dizziness, he took a few sips from the glass. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. Instead, it felt like it made it worse. Then it hit him. He finally realized that he was actually drinking alcohol. The realization made him shake his head. Although, he did actually kind of like it. It made him detached from reality, and it helped him forget about his worries and any bad memories he had. In other words, it made him feel happy. Ritsuko seemed to noticed his dazed state after glancing to him.

"Maybe you've had enough," she suggested. Izuku shook his head before finishing the third drink.

"No!" he said assertively. Ritsuko looked at his face and saw his flushed cheeks.

"Is this your first time drinking alcohol?" she inquired. He nodded, and she sighed at his answer. It didn't help that he got drunk pretty quickly either. Still, she watched him drink another glass. She tried to stop him again by going to take his next drink, but he gently slapped her hand away.

"No, s'mine!" he slurred. When he was taking a drink of his fifth, she got his phone from his pocket.

"Hey, dat's mine!" he said with a slightly raised and upset voice, grabbing at his phone. Although, she kept it just out of his reach. She looked at the time and saw that it was nearly 2:00 am. The girl was about to give it back, but she saw that he had a few messages that he hadn't read yet. She pushed the now drunk Izuku back into his seat to get him to stop leaning against her in an attempt to obtain his phone.

"Keep drinking," she ordered. He grumbled something before finishing his sixth drink. She looked back down at the texts and read the first part of them, but read no further since she couldn't see the rest. It was an invasion of privacy just reading that small bit, so, with a bit of guilt, she gave his phone back. Ritsuko didn't even look at the caller ID.

It was when he had his seventh that she stopped him. Forcefully, that is. She literally had to drag him away. Thankfully, he went pretty quietly after struggling for a few seconds. Ritsuko took him over to her bike and got on, making him get on behind her. She tensed when she felt his arms wrap tightly around her waist. He leaned forward against her back, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"You know, you're really warm. Pretty too," he whispered a bit tiredly. "You smell really nice too. Just like coconuts and vanilla. It's really nice."

Ritsuko knew that he was a pretty shy person based on how he acted around her, so hearing this more bold side was odd to her. Even if he was drunk and incoherent.

Once she finally got used to his touch she relaxed and began driving. She followed a small dirt road for a little over fifteen minutes before she stopped. Ritsuko told Izuku to get off. After a few seconds, he let her go and obeyed. Then she got off as well and pulled the motorcycle into a bush to hide it. She stepped over to a tree, and Izuku was close behind her. The girl climbed up the tree a little bit until she got past the first layer of leaves. There was a treehouse that was hidden by the them. Her hand felt around on the floor until she felt something. She pulled the object down to reveal that it was a ladder.

"Climb up here," she told him as she pulled herself into the treehouse. After a few moments she saw a drunken Izuku poke his head up into her view. He stared to smile.

"Nice place!" he praised before getting into the house. She got a few blankets and layed them down on the wooden flooring. Ritsuko sat down on one of them with a book in her hand. She opened the book at a bookmark she had placed the last time she had read it.

After reading for a few minutes, she suddenly heard a quiet sniffle. When she lifted her head she saw that Izuku was crying. She wasn't sure why; maybe he got a really bad splinter from the wood or something.

Ritsuko put her bookmark back in the book before closing it and setting it down. She scooted towards him slightly. The girl wasn't very good at comforting anyone in general, so she had no idea what to do with the crying and still drunk Izuku in front of her. She eventually decided to begin with her curiosity.

"Izuku," she said gently, gaining the attention of the green haired boy, "why are you crying?"

"I just can't help but think about everything," he said with a sniffle and rubbed at his dark green eyes with his sleeves. Although, another stream of tears stared to fall.

"Like what?"

"I was just... always bullied as a kid since I was quirkless, and I _still_ am picked on sometimes. It just really gets to me, but I never show that. Hiding it though is really hard sometimes, but I don't want to say anything so I'm not a burden to anyone. Especially my friends. Sometimes, it makes me feel so lonely though since I can't tell them. Just to make sure that everyone else is happy, I remind myself to stay positive so I don't bring their mood down," he explained to her.

She scooted a little closer, "What about you and your parents?"

"I'd do anything for my mom. I don't like lying to her, but I had to do that so I could come here; there's no way she would have let me go to that race if she knew about it."

"Your dad?"

"He's somewhere else for his work. I haven't seen him since I was like four. He doesn't call very often either, and it just makes me really sad; mad too. I need him to be in my life. I want him to be an actual father to me!" It was like a dam suddenly broke as even more tears cascaded down his cheeks.

He was extremely depressed, and she could easily see that now. Izuku really did do a good job at hiding his sadness by pretending to be so happy and optimistic. She was surprised that someone that acted so happy and so kind was truly very lonely and so sad. Ritsuko sat up straighter and scooted closer. Now they were well within reach of each other.

She heard Izuku let out a loud cry before throwing himself at her. It caused her to fall back with Izuku on top of her. He was crying into her shoulder, his knees next to her hips, and his arms beside her. She winced in pain from his knee touching her right hip, but she did her best to ignore it.

Ritsuko allowed him to rest on top of her, crying his tears out. Eventually, his cries turned to quiet sobs, sniffles, and hiccups. She then gently rolled him onto his side. He quickly grabbed her wrist when she tried to get up.

"Don't leave," he pleaded in a whisper that was followed by a quiet sniffle. Izuku sounded desperate for her to stay.

"I'm just getting the blanket, it will only take a few seconds," she assured him. Slowly, he released her. His green eyes watched her as she grabbed a blanket and threw it up so it landed on their legs. After that, she layed down and tugged it to their shoulders.

Ritsuko could see that he was still close to spilling his tears again, so she thought of something to help calm him. She began to slowly run her hand through his wild green hair, making sure her index finger never touched his head. After a moment, he showed her a smile as he leaned into the touch a little. It made a small smile appear on her face. Not long after, she saw him close his eyes and quickly fall asleep. Still, she stroked his hair for another minute or two before stopping.

She suddenly felt his arm wrap around her waist and pull her closer. It took a few seconds, but she felt alright with his sudden warm embrace. Ritsuko let him gently hold her in his sleep. It seemed to make him feel better, and she didn't mind it too much. Then he held her tighter, successfully pulling her even closer to his smaller body. Her dark grey eyes saw his eyebrows furrow, and his face turned into one of dismay. Keeping her index finger up, she gently cupped his cheek with her hand. It seemed to relax him since his face returned to normal.

Soon, Ritsuko found herself moving a bit closer to him. They were so close now that their noses were nearly touching. Although, being this close to him made her feel amazing. She had never been held like this in pretty much her whole life. It made her feel like she was wanted by someone. Someone that she could trust.

She began to feel very nervous all of a sudden. Although, it faded when she felt him put his chin to her forehead. Ritsuko closed her eyes. The last thing she felt before she slipped into sleep was Izuku's warm arm move comfortably to her back.

 **Word Count: 4245**

 ** _~ Posted November 2, 2018_**


	8. Rising Jealousy

_**Chapter 7**_

 _ **Rising Jealousy**_

Izuku woke up with a major headache. It felt like his head was going to explode. Then he realized why. He was suffering from a hangover due to drinking a lot of alcohol. He let out a quiet groan from the pain in his head before he registered that he was in a treehouse. He didn't remember getting there, and it worried him a bit. The last thing he could recall was him sitting at an outside bar sipping at his second drink. Or was it his third? He wasn't sure.

Then he felt something warm move slightly in his arms, but he didn't know what it was. He moved his hand a little, deciding to pull whatever it was closer. It was when he felt a warm breath tickle his neck that he figured out what it was. It was Ritsuko. His face grew extremely hot, and he knew he was blushing. However, he didn't let go. Instead, he moved up a little bit so her face was in his chest. He didn't want to move too much because he didn't want to wake her.

Izuku got his phone from his pocket and held it behind her on the floor so he could see it. After turning his phone on silent so he wouldn't wake Ritsuko up, he saw that he had five texts from Uraraka.

 _9:16 pm yesterday_

 _Uraraka: Hey whatcha doing_

 _9:57 pm yesterday_

 _Uraraka: U ever going to respond?_

 _11:34 pm yesterday_

 _Uraraka: Youre worrying me_

 _1:38 am today_

 _Uraraka: Deku please answer so i know nothing bad happened to you_

 _5:42 am today_

 _Uraraka: deku if you dont respond by 7 im going to call iida and were going to come find you!!!_

It was 7:35 now.

 _'Guess I missed the window then...'_ he thought. _'I still better text her to let them know I'm alright.'_

 _Izuku: Uraraka im ok you dont need to look for me_

After that, the response he received was nearly instant.

 _Uraraka: Omg youre ok!_

 _Izuku: Yes im not hurt in anyway_

 _Uraraka: Thank god but where are you send a pic_

 _Izuku has sent a picture_

 _Uraraka: Why r u in a treehouse deku?_

 _Izuku: Idk cuz i am?_

 _Uraraka: Do u even know where you are?! And now is not the time to be sassy!_

 _Izuku: Of course i do! If i didnt how else would i get home_

 _Uraraka: Send me ur location so me and iida know where u r. We'll come get u_

 _Izuku: Why i want to just be alone for a while_

 _Uraraka: Omg is a villain keeping you from sending your location?!_

 _Izuku: What no_

 _Uraraka: Then send ur location!!_

Izuku thought for a moment. He knew that keeping his location was suspicious, but he really didn't want to tell them where he was. In truth, he wanted to be alone with Ritsuko for a while longer.

He felt the light blue haired girl shift against him. Then he felt her hand being pressed to his chest. It made his face go hot again, but he stayed still. She rolled over on her side so her back was now against his chest. Not knowing what he should do, he settled with what he wanted to do. He slowly wrapped his arm around her waist. The girl tensed for a moment, but then she relaxed. Then he got an idea that could work for both him and Uraraka. He got his phone again.

 _Izuku: Send me ur location first_

 _Uraraka: Why_

 _Izuku: Do it and ill send u mine_

It took a few seconds, but she finally sent him her location. She was still in the center of the large city they lived in. It would take her and Iida quite a while to get to him, even with his speed quirk. That would be plenty of time to spend with Ritsuko, so he sent his location to her.

 _Uraraka: Why are you that far into the forest?_

 _Izuku: You have my location now so dont complain_

With that, he set his phone back down. He heard the ding for another notification, but he ignored it. It was probably her saying they were on their way or something.

Izuku really wanted to talk to Ritsuko. She was sound asleep though, so he patiently waited for her to wake up on her own. His wait payed off when she began to stir awake about ten minutes later. He saw her dark grey eyes begin to flutter open. She rolled over onto her back with a yawn and a stretch of her arms.

 _'Cute,'_ he thought. Realizing what he said, he shook his head. He rolled over onto his other side so she wouldn't see the pink hue on his cheeks.

"Something wrong?" she asked. Izuku couldn't help but think about how casual she was about it. It seemed like the situation didn't bother her at all. Then he felt her finger tap his arm. He turned his head just enough to see her sitting and looking down at him. She then placed three fingers on his forehead.

"How bad is it?" she questioned.

"H- how b- bad is what?"

"The hangover?"

"M- my headache i- is fine!"

Ritsuko stared at him for a moment before standing up. As she did he got a glimpse of the cut on her right forearm from that knife during the race. Seeing it made him a bit sad. He didn't like knowing that she was hurt.

Izuku sat up and watched her go to a box. He saw her wince as she crouched. Her hand went to her right hip for a second before she opened the wooden container.

"A- are you okay?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," she told him. She tried to hide it, but he could barely hear her speak as if she were in pain. He got up and went over to her. The inside of the box had some pictures, books, and glass things. From looking at it, he could tell that they were probably personal to her. Important too.

"Why don't you sit down?" Izuku inquired her. She shook her head. "What are you looking for?"

"A picture," she answered. He kept watching her go through everything for a few seconds.

"C- can you do s- something for me?" Izuku suddenly asked her, making her stop her movements. She turned to him.

"What?"

"C- can you make your sentences longer? They're usually pretty short, but I feel that you want to say more," he explained. Then, in a whisper that she could barely hear, he added, "P- plus, I- I think your voice sounds nice."

Ritsuko was quiet for a few seconds. She had never really thought about talking more. It was more comfortable for her to speak less. Although, she trusted Izuku. She saw no harm in speaking a little more, but only around him. "Sure, I guess it would be fine. Only around you though."

That made a smile appear on his face. "Good! Also, did you find what you were searching for?"

She shook head, but then she did actually find it. Ritsuko took the small picture out. It was of an older woman with long brown hair, and there was a young light blue haired girl sitting next to her. He knew it was Ritsuko and her mother from the color of their eyes. They were the exact same dark grey eyes.

"I've seen your mom, so you should see mine," she told him as she handed the picture to him. "I was five in this one."

"If you don't mind me asking, how old were you when you lost your mom?"

"I was six. She was jumped by a group of villains, and they killed her." Hearing that made him sad again. He handed the picture back as she gave him another one.

"That one is of me and my childhood friend Kaito. I was twelve, and he was fourteen," she explained. The boy she was beside in the picture had spiky, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. They were both smiling, and he could tell that the boy took the picture with the camera based off his pose and the perspective it was taken at.

"Is he nice to you?"

"Yes, of course. We do a lot of things for each other, and we protect each other the best we can." She handed him another picture. This one had her, Kaito, and a blond.

"That blond guy is Haze," she informed him. He remembered hearing his name; it was the night he figured out about the race. The girl that went up to Ritsuko mentioned him.

"What kind of friendship do you guys have?"

"We don't have one anymore. Kaito and I used to be pretty close to him, but he changed ever since his parents died," she told him. She had this sad look in her eyes that he didn't like. He didn't like seeing her sad at all. It made him feel terrible.

"Has he hurt you or anything?" Izuku worriedly asked. He took her silence as a yes. "You should do something! I'm sure that Kaito or your dad can help you."

"They do. Kaito beats the shit out him when he sees it, and my father has hurt him before."

"He hadn't done anything really bad has he?"

Ritsuko looked down to her lap for a second before looking back at him. "You have noticed the pain in my right hip, haven't you?"

He nodded, "He did that?"

"Yes, but the pain is a permanent thing. It was a year ago that he had shattered my hip because we got into a really bad fight. I didn't get proper medical attention, and I always walked on it for long periods of time despite it hurting. It didn't let it heal properly, so it always hurts now," Ritsuko explained. Izuku felt his hand curl into a fist involuntarily as a small bit of anger filled him. He wasn't sure why, but knowing that she was in permanent pain due to Haze made him feel so mad.

 _'I'm going to beat this guy up, I swear!'_ he thought angrily to himself. Then he felt a hand on each of his. He looked up and saw that Ritsuko was in front of him now.

"It's alright; I'm pretty used to it by now," she said in the hopes to reassure him. Although, he shook his head.

"It's not alright..." he mumbled. After a short silence he asked, "What makes it hurt more?"

"If anything touches it. Even the slightest tap can make it hurt a lot more depending on where it touches my hip. Moving my leg far to the side can really hurt my hip too. Walking for a long time can do it as well," she said to him.

"Wait, has us walking around the city been making it worse?" Izuku asked her with concern. "I mean, we walked a few days in a row, and it was for a while too."

"It did," she admitted, "but it's alright; you didn't know, and I didn't tell you."

"It's not! You should have said something because I wouldn't have-" He was cut off when she flicked his nose.

"Being with you made my days better, and I knew that you wouldn't want to meet up if you knew," she said. Then she tilted her head and added, "You know now though, right?"

"Yeah..." Izuku looked over to the box and at the pictures. Then he realized something. "Why isn't your dad in any of the pictures?"

She seemed to tense slightly, and he wasn't sure why. When she relaxed, she said, "He's in some, but they're not at the top of the pile."

"Can I see what he looks like?"

"No," she responded instantly. "You wouldn't like him."

"I can judge that," he told her.

A silence fell over them. He saw that she was staring to the side at nothing in particular. It took a few moments for him to realize just how close they were. They were side by side, their sides nearly touching. He was on her right side, so he was being extra careful now that he knew about the pain in her right hip. The close proximity caused a red blush to spread across his cheeks. Feeling how warm she was didn't help him either. To him, since he was fairly cold, she felt a lot like a heater. There was a strong urge that appeared in him to lean closer to her. However, his shy and rather timid nature would never allow him to do that.

Izuku dared a glance at Ritsuko's face only to see her dark grey eyes staring at him. She was looking at him for who knows how long, and it made him even more nervous than he was before. Before he or she could do anything though, a voice rang through the cool morning air.

"Deeekuuu!" They yelled. He instantly knew that it was Uraraka. "Deku, you're here somewhere, so show yourself!"

Izuku remembered just how close he was to Ritsuko, and he turned bright red again. Quickly, he leaned back and looked away.

They heard a rustle of the leaves. The two both looked in the direction it was coming from, and they saw Uraraka poke her head out.

"Hello, Deku!" she cheered with her eyes closed. When they opened, she saw them extremely close together. Seeing Izuku so close to Ritsuko made the brunette feel very jealous.

"H- Hey!" Izuku called nervously as he scooted away from the light blue haired girl. "Y- you guys f- found me!"

Uraraka climbed into the treehouse and walked over to them. Her jealousy flared up, and it made the girl really upset. She walked over to him and tapped his head. The brunette then made him float upwards. His head hit the ceiling, and he let out a pain filled cry. His head was still hurting a bit from the hangover, but now it was even worse. He looked down to see an extremely mad Uraraka.

"What were you two doing? Something could have happened to you two while you were out here!"

"N- nothing!" he stuttered. Then he was suddenly dropped to the floor. The brunette went over to him as he sat up.

"Why weren't you responding to my texts?! I was so worried!"

Izuku waved his hands defensively, "I'm sorry; I was really distracted yesterday!"

"Alright, let's all calm down," Iida said since he was able to climb into the treehouse on his own. The brunette seemed to ignore him and got closer to Izuku. He went red from her being that close to his face. Then she stood back up with a quiet gasp.

"Deku, why do you smell like alcohol?"

"W- wait, I do?" He seemed confused. Then he did a mental facepalm. _'Of course I do! I was drinking after all.'_

"Oh my god," she said angrily. Uraraka tapped him, making him float again. Then she walked over to Iida and tapped him as well to make him float. "We're leaving; see ya, Ritsuko!"

Ritsuko saw her jump down, the two boys close behind thanks to her quirk. She crawled over to the edge. Uraraka was now dragging the green haired boy while Iida walked beside her. After seeing them walk for a few seconds, she went back by the box in the treehouse.

The girl moved a few pictures until she found the one she was looking for. It was a picture of her mom, and she was beside her. Behind the five year old Ritsuko was a seven year old Kaito. Right behind her mother was her father. He was where she got her light blue hair and her other quirk.

It was Tomura. He wasn't threatening in the picture or anything. Actually, he had a very small and content smile on his face. A genuine one that was caused by happiness. His arms were resting on her mother's shoulders.

The four were happy together in the picture. They were a small happy family.

~~~

"Can you just let me go already?" Izuku asked. He gave up his struggling long ago, and he was just asking now rather than demanding with a struggle. Uraraka didn't respond though. "Look, I'm sorry for not texting yesterday. Or earlier this morning..."

"Yeah, because you were out getting drunk!" she said with anger and irritation.

"Okay, I admit to that. I didn't know it was alcohol until I already had a glass though. I swear that's true!"

"Where did you even go? And why would you drink to begin with?" she asked him, anger still evident in her tone.

"It was a party of sorts..." he whispered. "Like I said, I didn't know it was alcohol until I already had a glass or two." Uraraka stopped, resulting in him bumping into her. She turned around to see him.

"You shouldn't be around Ritsuko anymore," she declared. "She's a bad influence. Heck, she even let you drink!"

The fact that Ritsuko _did_ allow him to drink was one he couldn't deny. However, he still wanted to talk to her. He was going to continue to speak with her, no matter what.

"I can talk to her if I want too!" he yelled. It caught both Uraraka and Iida off guard since he sounded so mad all of a sudden. "Neither of you can control what I do! I like to hangout with her, so I will if I want to!"

Uraraka grip loosened slightly, and he took that opportunity to break away from her grasp. He pulled his wrist away from her and took off. Both of them yelled for him to stop, but he ignored them.

The brunette began to run after him, but Iida stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Let's leave him alone. Going after him won't help any of us. Just let him think for a while. We should do the same."

She was about to protest, but she stopped herself. The girl knew that he was right. Her jealousy ultimately made her act that way. She didn't like how she was treating him because of it, so not talking to him while in her jealous state was the best option.

~~~

Izuku was still mad when he got home. It didn't even let him register his mother's greeting. He rarely didn't respond when he got home; he only didn't when he had a really bad day at school. She immediately knew something happened. Inko followed him to his room to make sure he was alright. "Izu, are you okay?"

"No," he admitted honestly, sounding slightly angry. She walked a bit closer to him.

"We can talk about it if you want," she told him.

"Not now," he said, quickly managing to calm himself down. His mother had nothing to do with why he was upset, so he didn't want to expel any of his frustration on her. She gave him a nod after a few seconds.

"Let me know if you need anything," she told him before walking back down the hall.

Izuku went to his dresser and got some clothes. His mother wasn't close enough to smell the alcohol on him, and he didn't want her to know. He had to take a quick shower and wash his clothes before she found out.

After getting some clothes he went to the bathroom and got in the shower. While standing there, he couldn't help but think about the race, him ending up drunk, waking up next to Ritsuko, finding out more about her, and the fight with Uraraka. His mind went on a bit of an overload.

Izuku felt like he was missing something when he wasn't with her. Around her he felt strange but great at the same time. There were times where she would get him extremely flustered, and there were times when he gained more confidence than he normally would around girls. He didn't know how he was able to do it, but he wouldn't stutter as often when he was with her unlike the other girls. Whenever she was sad, he felt sad too. When she was happy, he was. Knowing that she was hurting made him angry too; more than he felt he should be. The range of emotions he felt in regards to Ritsuko just confused him so much.

Izuku looked up, letting the shower head spray water onto his face.

He had taken her out to dinner, to shops, an arcade, and he went out of his way to see her at that race. He even bought himself a butterfly knife to defend himself since he had the suspicion that the place was full of villains. He did all of that for her, and she was almost constantly on his mind when she wasn't with him.

Izuku wasn't sure of what he should do about it. Although, he was positive that he was going to be seeing her again really soon. He wanted to feel like he wasn't missing anything anymore, and he felt that desire disappear when she was near him. It was because he felt that the thing he was missing was finally with him. Much like whatever he was missing was Ritsuko herself.

For now, he decided to figure out the various emotions he was going through later. The boy was a bit tired, so he was going to take a short nap before doing anything else for the day.

 **Word Count:** **3615**

 **Happy Thanksgiving everyone!**

 _ **~ Posted November 22, 2018**_


	9. Meeting The Friend

**_Chapter 8_**

 ** _Meeting The Friend_**

It was the night after the race. That meant Izuku had to go back to UA tomorrow.

Ritsuko sat on her bed as she thought about that as she held the hyena that Izuku bought her in her arms. She could drive by when it was over with her bike. Then again, maybe it wasn't the best idea. After that fight he had Uraraka, she probably shouldn't see him again. The brunette would probably be mad with her if she were to see him.

There was a soft knock on the door of her room. After a few seconds it opened. A brunette with spiky dark brown hair and dark blue eyes stepped in. "Hey, Ritsuko."

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Why are you going out so often during the day?" he questioned. The male was getting a bit protective. "You usually go out at night to get things."

"Can I ask you for something?" she asked instead of answering.

"If you answer, yeah."

"It will answer..."

The tall male sighed, "Alright, what is it?"

"Advice. You're better socially than I am, and I want to know how to communicate better."

"For what reason? You seem fine to me."

"Because I've known you since we were kids. I've only known this guy for a week now, and he makes me nervous sometimes. A good kind of nervous though, if that makes sense to you," she explained. He closed his eyes for a moment in thought.

"So you like him?" he tried. She shrugged.

"I don't know yet, Kaito."

Kaito went over to the bed and sat down beside her. "You'll figure it out soon, and you will know when. For now, get to know more about him. I know you hide your feelings for the most part at first, so start to show him them. Playing your violin for him would be nice too; I'm sure he would love it!"

Ritsuko looked up, "Last night he got drunk and admitted personal stuff about himself. Should I tell him what he said?"

"Yes, you definitely should. Don't keep major secrets from him either. Soon, he needs to know that your parents are villains. Although, all of us that are here know that you don't want to be considered one. I don't want to be one either."

The girl nodded and with a small smile she said, "Alright, thanks. Do you want to listen to some music?"

Kaito showed her a smile, "Yeah, sure!"

That being said, she got her music player and earbuds. Then she had an idea. She looked at him and said, "Hold on, I'll be right back."

Ritsuko got up and left her room. She stepped through the hall and went into the bar area of the place. On one of the stools was who she was looking for.

"Dad," she said, grabbing the light blue haired male's attention. He set his glass down.

"What, Ritsuko?"

"Can I have a phone?"

"That's sudden. What for?"

"To contact you, Kurogiri, or Kaito if something happens," she said, purposefully leaving out Izuku. Tomura took one more sip from his drink as he thought.

"Yeah, sure," he finally responded.

"Thanks, dad," she said before walking back towards the hall.

"Ritsuko," her father called out, causing her to stop, "where have you been going lately?"

"Around town," she answered vaguely. It wasn't a lie at least.

"What have you been doing?"

"You're overprotective sometimes, dad."

"You're my only daughter, so it makes sense. Now stop avoiding the question and answer."

"I have been getting things like supplies and information. On my way home yesterday someone told me that Haze got in trouble. Maybe you should deal with him," she advised. It was the truth; someone had told her that the blond decided to mess with someone he probably shouldn't have. Tomura took a sip of his drink instead of responding, so she just continued into the hallway. When she got back to her room she pointed to the brunette.

"What's up, Ritsu?" he asked as he lifted his head.

"You should give me your phone number. My dad's getting me a phone."

"Oh, sure." Kaito got up, went over to her desk, and got a piece of paper. He quickly scribbled his number with a black pen. When he was done, he set the pen down and turned to see her. His dark blue eyes landed on the striped hyena stuff animal being held in her arms.

"Where'd you get that?"

"The guy that we were talking about gave it to me."

"Oh." He was getting a little protective of her again. He usually did since she was pretty much the only family he had. She was a little sister to him, and he would die if it meant she would be alright. He wanted to make sure that, whoever the guy was, he could make her the happiest girl alive. She deserved all the happiness she could get. "Who is he? Is he taking advantage of you or something?"

She shook her head, "No, he's really nice."

Hearing her say that made him relax a bit. He rubbed the back of his neck as he asked, "What's his name though?"

Ritsuko seemed unsure. Kaito sat down beside her again. He knew that specifically striped hyenas had a special meaning to the girl due to her mother, but it was extra special now because of this boy he didn't know.

"I won't tell anyone, and that's a promise. You know me. I wouldn't tell anyone anything that you don't want them to know," he reassured her.

Ritsuko let out a short breath. "It's the Midoryia Izuku guy that my dad is enemies with," she admitted. She turned to him with a hint of desperation. "You can't tell anyone! Especially my dad!"

He saw her grip the hyena tighter. It was as if it were the last thing she could ever touch. "Relax, I wont tell. Promise." Kaito held his pinky out to her. "Pinky promise, if that makes you feel better."

Hesitantly, she wrapped her pinkie around his. "Okay, pinky promise then, Kai."

~~~

It was Monday after school now. Uraraka felt bad about getting into a fight with Izuku yesterday, so she apologized. Of course, he gladly accepted it, and he apologized himself. She knew that the way she acted was very out of character for her. He was hanging out with Ritsuko more than he was with her and Iida, and it had ticked her off. The girl wanted to try and make it up to him though. Ritsuko as well. The only problem she had now was that she had this weird feeling she couldn't quite describe about the blue haired girl.

Now, she was back at the place she had found him at the day before. The treehouse that she could only assume belonged to Ritsuko. She was looking around; she felt like there was something extremely important that she was missing about the blue haired girl.

Uraraka was searching the place, and she found the box that Izuku and Ritsuko were looking in. She sat down and opened it. The brunette moved some of the items until one caught her brown eyes. It was a picture, and the last person she would expect was in it. It was Tomura, their enemy, sitting behind a woman with brown hair.

Then it clicked why Ritsuko seemed somehow familiar even though she had never seen her before last week. They had the exact same shade of light blue hair, and she guessed that she probably had his quirk as well. It explained why she never touched everything with all five fingers when they were at the mall.

Now she definitely needed to tell Izuku. If he wanted to hangout with her more like he said, she knew that he had to know about this. After all, her father was out to kill him for the most part.

~~~

Izuku was at the front gates of UA after school got out. It was Tuesday now, and he didn't see Ritsuko at all on Monday. He really wanted to see her again. Yesterday he had gone to the park at the same time they were meeting before, but she didn't come.

The boy began walking down the sidewalk toward his house. While doing so, he kept thinking about Ritsuko. He even thought about both of her quirks, still not registering that one of them was the decay quirk that his enemy had. It was like a state of denial that he didn't realize he was going though; his mind just wouldn't let him see it.

Due to his distraction, he didn't hear someone walking up to him. He turned after they tapped his shoulder, and he saw Uraraka. "H- Hey!"

"Deku, you need to know something important!" she told him.

"Wh- what is it?"

"How much do you know about Ritsuko?"

He thought for a moment. "I know about her mother, a few things she likes, and a few people from her childhood. Why?"

"Not her father?" He shook his head. "Deku, our enemy is her dad; it's Shigaraki Tomura! She has the light blue hair, and she doesn't touch anything with all of her fingers. She probably has the same quirk as him."

"Wait, what?" Without saying anything, the brunette held up a picture in front of his face. Slowly, he took the picture in his hands so he could see it more closely. It was the one of Ritsuko, her mother, Kaito, and Tomura. It all clicked in his head, and he felt stupid for not seeing it earlier. Her hair color, how careful she was with her hands, the fact that she still hadn't told him her last name, and one of the quirks she displayed in the race. She was also defensive when he had asked her if he could see a picture of her father.

"I'm not going to stop you from talking to her since I can't control you, but I want you to be careful." There was a pause. "What are you doing to do?"

Izuku wasn't sure for a few seconds. Then he decided what he would do. "I'm going to ask her. I'll let you know tomorrow. For now I'm going to think."

The brunette nodded, and the two departed. On his way home he thought about what he could do. He still felt a bit mad at himself for not piecing it together much earlier when it was all obvious. Since he was lost in his mind, he ended up bumping into someone when he rounded a corner.

"Sorry!" Izuku rushed. He looked up at the taller male. His eyes widened slightly when he saw them. They looked older now, but from the spiky, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, he knew it was Kaito.

"You're Midoriya Izuku," he stated. He stepped back slightly. Kaito was protective of Ritsuko, and he knew that from what she said about him.

"Y- yeah," he stuttered. Kaito took one step closer.

"Jeez, finally found you. I want to talk to you about Ritsuko real quick," he said. The taller boy gave him an intense glare, and it made Izuku become very nervous. "If you're going to be around her, you must know two things. One, I will beat the shit out of you if you hurt her. She may not act like it, but she's actually pretty emotional. Two, you need to be willing to protect her. No matter what." Izuku looked into Kaito's dark blue eyes. "What? You look like you want to say something."

"Is... Is Shigaraki Tomura really her dad?" Izuku finally asked.

There was a pause between them until Kaito finally said, "Yes, he is. I know he's your enemy and everything, but she's not like him. Her dad doesn't even know that you're seeing her; she's been doing a fairly good job at keeping that a secret."

That made him relax. Although, he knew she was risking it when she was with him. "Can you, um, ask if she can meet me at the park at 4:30 tomorrow?"

"Sure, whatever. Like I said though, you better not hurt her. You better protect her too."

"Just one more thing," Izuku said to stop him from leaving. "She doesn't want to be a villain, right?"

"Neither of us do. It's that both her parents are, and my father was. That makes us villains by default."

"No it doesn't! You two aren't villains," he declared. It made Kaito raise an eyebrow. Still, he turned and resumed walking.

"Whatever," he said. Just like that, he was gone. Izuku wasn't exactly sure how he should take the strange encounter, but he saw it as a good thing. Knowing that only Kaito knew about them meeting was good; Tomura was the last person he wanted to know. He felt that he could trust Kaito as well. The brunette was also going to tell Ritsuko to meet him too, and that made him happy.

~~~

The light blue haired girl stood in the kitchen. She watched and made sure that the food she was making wouldn't burn. Then she heard the large painting to the secret living area move. It took only a minute or so for the person that entered to appear in the same room as her. When she turned she spotted Kaito.

"Hey," Ritsuko greeted with a small smile and went back to watching the food. The slightly taller brunette walked over to her and glanced at the food. It took only a few seconds to realize what she was making since she had made it several times before.

"That kid you have been meeting up with lately," he started, causing her to look at him again.

"What did you say to him?"

"All I- wait, what makes you assume I even spoke with him?"

She let out a short and quiet sigh, "Because, I know you."

"Well, all I said was for him to treat you right. That's all... Oh, and he wants to meet you at the park at 4:30 tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you," the girl said with a smile. It made Kaito smile a bit too as he turned and headed to his room.

After about twenty minutes Ritsuko called everyone that was there for dinner. There was an energetic girl that only took a few seconds to walk into the dining room. When her eyes landed on all of the food set up her smile grew even wider.

"Finally! I was starving!" she exclaimed. Her yellow eyes landed on the blue haired girl, and she stepped over to her. "It's been awhile since I've been able to have any of your food, Ritsuko!"

"Right, Himiko," she said as the blonde spun a few times. Then a few others stepped into the room. "The food is still hot, so you guys should wait a few more minutes."

"Ritsuko," Tomura said, sounding slightly demanding. She went over to him to see what he wanted. "You are going to be staying here while the rest of us go out somewhere for the next few days."

"Where are you going?" she asked, a little confused.

"To get things. You will be here to watch the others," he stated. Ritsuko thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, that'll be fine." With that, the blue haired male went to the table. The fact that her father was leaving for a few days wasn't new ever since last year. The man that Tomura was taking orders from was gone after all, so he had to take things into his own hands. She was aware of what his villainous activities were as well when he was gone. Ritsuko just hoped that no one she didn't like would be staying behind too.

 **Word Count: 2644**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **Okay, you guys need to know that I'm taking a little break from this story for two reasons.**

 **1\. A close friend of mine got in an accident recently, and I want to be available to help them through what's going on. I put family above the internet, and I consider my friend as family since I've known them for so long** **. Plus, the whole ordeal effects how I feel at the moment, and I don't want that to effect how I write the story.**

 **2\. I also want to rethink what I'm doing for the plot of the story. I have this general idea of where I'm going, but I don't exactly like how I'm getting there. As the author, I not only want to give you guys something that entertains you, but something I can be proud of** **as well.** **There are some chapters of the story that I could have written better, so I'm not as proud of those ones as the others.**

 **I just wanted you guys to know what's going on. One thing I feel an author should do is fill their readers in on a little of what's going on in reality so they understand the situation. The story won't be abandoned though, so don't worry!**

 ** _~ Posted December 25, 2018_**


	10. Izy

_**Chapter 9**_

 _ **Izy**_

"That's nice of him," a green haired teen stated. The girl that was a few inches taller than him hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, it is," the light blue haired girl responded. "He got me out of trouble with my dad, which I was grateful for."

Ritsuko and Izuku were walking around when the latter had brought up the brunette he had seen the day before. She had assured Izuku that he didn't mean any harm, and she told him about a kind act the brunette had done for her in the past to hopefully convince him that Kaito was truly a kindhearted person. The boy had helped her out when they were younger. In response, he had told her about something nice that his mother had done for him when he was younger.

"Your mother is very sweet," she told Izuku. "Never let anything or anyone hurt her. Don't worry her too much either."

"I- I won't!" he assured quickly. Then he let out a short breath. The boy was really glad that Ritsuko had done what he had asked her when they were in the treehouse. She was talking more, and he likes it. He was able to learn more about her and hear more of her opinions. It was like he was able to tear down one of the many walls surrounding her, slowly breaking her from her reserved self.

"Oh, were back here," he pointed out before taking a sip of his coffee. They met at the park like always, but they went to a nearby café for some coffee. Izuku was just absent mindedly following her, and, since she was just going where her feet carried her, she had taken them back to the park. She began to walk forward, so he trailed her. They ended up walking to a play structure.

"Why don't we play a game?" Ritsuko asked. Izuku tilted his head slightly.

"What kind?"

"Maybe tag? I played it a few times with Kaito and Haze when we were kids, and I kind of miss the game," she explained. He thought for a moment. Then he nodded.

"S- sure!" He took her cup of coffee and placed both his and hers on one of the bench tables. Then he went back over to her and tapped her. "Tag, you're it."

Ritsuko saw the green haired boy run off onto the bark dust. She rushed after him to the play structure. Luckily, there were no kids, so they can push and shove all they wanted to without risking hurting someone else.

The girl climbed to the top of the structure and spotted Izuku at the top of one of the large slides. She quickly ran to the other side toward him. Her finger was about to tap his shoulder, but he let himself slide down the blue slide. Her dark grey eyes watched him reach the bottom before she went down herself. Ritsuko chased him around until she finally managed to tap his hand.

"Tag," she said, causing him to come to a stop. When he looked to her, he saw her running in another direction with a smirk on her face. He changed the way he was facing and sprinted after her. His green eyes stayed on her as he got closer. Then he remembered the deal with her right hip, and he started thinking that maybe running around like this wasn't the smartest idea. If he ran into her with too much force and momentum, it could really hurt her, especially her hip. Still, he went to tag her, but more mindful of how he approached her. When he was close enough, he was able to grasp her wrist.

"Gotcha!' he said, holding onto her. She looked to him with a smile on her face. It made him smile in return as well. Then, after realizing he was still holding her wrist, he let go and looked away to hide his face.

"What's wrong?" she inquired.

"N- nothing!" he said nervously. He shook the pink from his cheeks and turned to her. "Do you maybe want to play hide and seek? In a park like this, it would be pretty fun!"

Ritsuko stared for a moment. "Yeah, sure."

He smiled, "Alright, since it's just us though in this big park, let's stay near the playground. Let's say that the boundary is... out to that tennis court over there. You were the tagger first, so I will seek first."

"Okay. Count to a hundred," she told him. He nodded, closed his eyes, even covered his eyes with his hands to ensure he wouldn't open then, and began counting from one. When he got to a hundred, he uncovered his eyes and began searching the area. First, he started at the play structure. He didn't find her there, so he looked around in the trees near it. Still, Izuku didn't find her, so he picked up his pace a bit to cover more ground quicker.

He stopped near the tennis court they had agreed to be the boundary. Izuku's green eyes scanned the area, but she was nowhere. The boy began to walk around some more until he heard the rustling of leaves above him, causing him to look up. Something fell from the tree, and it landed right on his back. It caused the poor teen to let out a groan when he hit the dirt.

"You know, you're not exactly the greatest cushion," Ritsuko informed him.

"Why did you even do that?" Izuku inquired. Her weight lifted from his back, allowing him to sit up. When he realized she wasn't right next to him anymore, he turned his head to see where she went. His eyes landed on her sitting against a tree, so he scooted back and sat beside her.

"Can we talk about something?" she suddenly asked, a serious expression on her face.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"It's about when you got drunk after the race."

He tensed up, "Oh god, I didn't do or say anything embarrassing, right?!"

"Relax, you didn't. I don't see it that way at least," Ritsuko said in reassurance. It made him exhale in relief.

"O- okay, what happened?"

"A bit after we got to the treehouse, you began to cry," she told him. Hearing that made him want to curl into a ball. He couldn't believe that he had cried in front of her.

"I asked you why, and you told me about you being bullied, how you felt, and your parents. You keep on a happy smile just so your friends don't worry about you."

"I said that?" Izuku questioned. He didn't want to tell anyone about those things. If anyone knew, he felt that they would judge him or something of that nature.

"Yes. I also need to tell you something else that I feel you should know. It's about my father. He's..." She trailed off, debating whether or not she should actually say it. Although, Kaito told her to be honest with him, and that was what she was going to do. Even if it would effect or possible even destroy the friendship they had made.

"I know, your dad is Shigaraki Tomura," she heard Izuku say. Her head turned to him, surprise on her face.

"How did you figure out?" she asked him. There was a short pause.

"Uraraka showed me a picture. It was you, your mom, your dad, and Kaito," Izuku explained. Ritsuko raised an eyebrow.

"Where did she get it?"

"I assumed that she went back to that treehouse and looked in that box of pictures you had."

Ritsuko pulled her knees to her chest. She looked a little sad as well. "He is probably your number one enemy, so, me being his daughter, I understand if you no longer want to be friends."

Izuku raised his hands and waved them, "No no, it doesn't change anything! We're still friends, him being your dad changes nothing. You're you, not anyone else."

She lowered her head slightly. The girl thought he would want to cut off all contact with her, but he did the opposite. It made her smile a little from happiness. Izuku noticed, and it made a pink hue dust his cheeks.

"You and I are a little bit alike. We make sure others are happy. You smile for your friends, and I smile for the people the villains keep."

"You mean, they have prisoners?"

"Yes. I play violin for them to keep them happy, I smile and talk to them, and I have read stories for them sometimes," Ritsuko informed him. The blue haired girl lifted her head, and her dark grey eyes met his green ones. Then she turned away.

"Hey, Izuku, why did you talk to me that night we met?"

He turned his head to see the rest of the park for a few moments. "You seemed so... sad and hopeless. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I could tell that there was more to it though, and part of what makes a hero is meddling in some things that don't involve you."

"That can get you in trouble though," she pointed out.

"That's a price for doing something to help someone else sometimes."

Ritsuko turned her head to the side a little. "By the way, I'm sorry about that night of the race. You know, for letting you drink without telling you it was alcohol. That was wrong of me, especially since I know you want to become a pro hero and all."

"Hey, don't worry about it too much! That's just between you and me anyways. The only two that know are Uraraka and Iida, but I trust they wouldn't tell anyone," the boy assured. "On the plus side, I now I'm not going to delve into alcohol so much in the future," he joked a little. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "Why did you participate in that race anyway, Ritsuko?"

"Well, All Might kinda beat the one responsible for the income that the league relied on, so we needed a new way to gain money. They told me that I would do really good in racing with my bike, so they convinced me to start doing it. Basically, through those races, I'm the main source of income now," the blue haired teen explained.

Izuku laughed nervously, "I guess so."

The two sat in silence for a minute or two, simply enjoying the company of the other. Then Ritsuko finally spoke. "Would you be alright if we went to your place? I honestly don't like staying where I do, partly because of the people in the league. You're place is a lot nicer and more quiet. It's more comfortable too."

"Yeah, sure!" Izuku got to his feet, and she did the same.

The two walked side by side through the park. They stopped by the bench table and retrieved their coffees before making their way to one of the exits of the park. They were quiet for most of the way, but it was a comfortable quiet between the two. Neither of them had felt the need to speak. Once they had reached the apartment building that he and his mother lived in, the two teens climbed the stairs until they got to the right floor. When they got to the door, Izuku unlocked it and stepped into his house, Ritsuko following behind.

"Welcome back, Izuku!" Inko called out. When she came around the corner and spotted the blue haired girl, she added, "You as well, Ritsuko!"

"Good to see you again, Inko," Ritsuko said, a small smile on her face. His mother smiled as Izuku went to his room after locking the front door to go do something.

"It's good to see you too. You know, you're the first friend of his that he has brought home in a while," she informed the teen. "It makes me happy that he's finding time to bring people over; I enjoy meeting who he's been spending time with."

"Really?" she inquired.

"Yes, and I'm sure that he really cares for you. Honestly, I think you two would be cute together," she said before going back around the corner. That made the blue haired girl feel a small bit of heat rising to her cheeks. Though, she shook her head after a moment and thought of something else.

Not knowing what she should do, she decided to go to Izuku's room. Ritsuko opened the door and saw said boy. He was changing his shirt at that very moment, so she was able to see his torso. The thing that caught her attention was the scars on his right arm. She went over to him, and he started stuttering and making weird noises. The flustered boy covered his red face with his arms.

After a second, Ritsuko gently grabbed the wrist of his right arm. She slowly pulled his arm down revealing one of his closed eyes. Her free hand traced the scars on his pale skin.

Izuku opened one of his green eye and watched her finger follow the scars on his arm. Then he looked at her face, and saw that she wore a saddened expression. "What's wrong?"

She sighed, "You shouldn't have scars; you're only sixteen."

"N- no, it's fine! Not that big of a deal!"

"It's mostly your quirk. It hurts you if you over do it. I learned that from the sports festival last year. And I heard some of the people in the league mention it after that whole camping incident." Izuku thought for a moment. She let go of his wrist and went over to his bed. The girl sat down on the edge.

"It's 8:30, so I'll just stay here for the night," she declared. Then she shifted a little. "If that's okay; I don't want to force you to let me stay."

Izuku didn't even realize it was that late. "No, it's fine!" He went to his dresser and got some clothes for her to wear. It was one of his white All Might shirts and a pair of black shorts. Ritsuko got up and took them in her hands. The teen saw her leave to go to the bathroom. Izuku put on the shirt he had gotten out before she stepped in and then threw himself onto his bed.

After a few minutes, he heard the door to his room open, so he raised his head from the pillow. He saw Ritsuko standing in the doorway. She was now wearing what he had given her.

"Your mom told me to tell you that dinner is ready," she informed him. He quickly got to his feet and followed her to the kitchen table. On it was his favorite food: Katsudon.

"Awesome! You made my favorite; thanks, mom!" Izuku said happily as he sat down.

"Of course!" Inko replied with a smile. The boy was already stuffing his face with the food on his plate by the time Ritsuko sat down.

"You should eat slower; you might choke if you don't," the girl warned. It made him realize how he was eating, so he took her advice and slowed down. Admittedly, he felt embarrassed that she saw him eat like that. However, when he looked up, he saw her with a faint smile. Then he saw her take a bite of the food.

"What is this again?" she asked.

"Katsudon," Izuku answered.

"This is the first time I've had it," she admitted. That worried him. It was his favorite food, after all, but he wouldn't let it get to him if she didn't end up liking it.

"Isn't this your favorite, Izuku?" she questioned.

"Yeah, but its okay if you don't like it," he assured her.

The girl took another bite. "You have good taste. It's not my absolute favorite, but it's pretty good."

He sighed with relief before taking another bite of his own. It didn't take too long for them all to finish. When they were, Izuku volunteered to take all the plates and clean them before heading back to his room. Once arriving there, he saw that Ritsuko was laying down comfortably in his bed. Her dark eyes were closed, and her head was resting on his soft pillow. She looked really peaceful, and she seemed at ease at that very moment. Although, Ritsuko's grey eyes suddenly widened as if she remembered something. Ritsuko got up and went to the clothes she had been wearing before. From the pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a phone. Then she stepped over to Izuku and handed it to him after she unlocked it and pulled up the contacts apps.

"Can you put your phone number in this?" she asked. Hesitantly, he took the touch device and did just that. When he gave it back, she looked at the screen. "Do you mind if I change your contact to something else?"

"Go ahead. Just nothing weird please..."

"Don't worry, I'm just simply changing it to 'Izy'," she informed him. Then she looked to him, furrowing her eyebrows slightly for a second. "Is it okay with you if I call you that as a nickname?"

Admittedly, he kind of liked it, partly because it was a new nickname. "Yeah, sure; that's fine!"

A faint smile appeared on her lips, "Cool. It's 9:30 now, so why don't we go to bed? You have to go to UA tomorrow anyways, so it would be smart for you to get some sleep. From what I know, it's a difficult school."

"It sure is. Sometimes the tests are really hard, especially the physical ones," he explained. Izuku went to his closet, got a few blankets, and then set up a place on the floor. "You can have the bed; I don't mind taking the floor."

The girl nodded and snuggled herself in his bed as he got in the makeshift one. From walking and playing a few games earlier in the day, he was able to get to sleep pretty quickly. However, just before he did, he heard a quiet whisper from Ritsuko.

"Goodnight, Izy."

 **Word Count: 3031**

 ***Momentarily rises from the grave to finally post the next goddamn chapter***

 **First post of the decade!**

 **I know, it's been forever, but I am finally back for the most part. The timing is honestly really weird because I have finals for my semester in the next week or two, but you know, whatever.**

 **As far as I know right now, I should be able to post the chapters for this story more consistently, so that's a plus! The next chapter should be out fairly soon too.**

 ** _~ Posted January 19, 2020_**


	11. Coffee

**_Chapter 10_**

 ** _Coffee_**

Izuku woke up with a yawn before realizing that there was something missing. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:50.

 _'Crap! I'm going to be late!'_ Quickly, he shot to his feet. He was going to get his uniform from his closet, but he noticed that it was already hanging over the back of his chair at his desk. Not really thinking much about it, he grabbed it, got a towel, and went to the bathroom to get in the shower. Since he was in a rush it didn't take him too long.

When he got to the dinner table there was already food set out for him. It was soup, but it was something he had never had before. When he it tried, he thought it was amazing. He assumed that his mother tried a new recipe.

After he was done, he cleaned his bowl and spoon and then went back to his room to get his backpack. Izuku opened the front door and saw Ritsuko standing there. Seeing her so suddenly startled him, making him jump a little.

"Perfect timing, Izy. I'm going to drive you to school so you aren't late," she told him.

"O- oh, okay!" He followed her to the black motorcycle she drove. After she got on, he carefully got on the small space behind her. They both put on a helmet, and she started to drive forward.

Thanks to the bike ride, he was able to get to UA before the first warning bell. He surely would have been late if she didn't get her bike. The boy got off the bike and handed the black helmet to her. She took hers off too before taking the one she provided him.

"Did you like the soup?" she asked before he walked away.

"It was really good!" he said.

"Good, I wanted you to try it so that I could maybe make it in the future," she told him. "If you want; if not that's fine too."

"N- no, that would great!"

He didn't think that she made, but it made sense to him now. It explained why it was unfamiliar to him. Plus, his mother would have told him if she were trying a new recipe. He smiled at her before hearing a whistle. When he turned around he saw Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mina.

"How did someone like you get such a hottie, Midoryia?" the blond asked teasingly. It made him blush like mad.

"Yeah, who is she?" Kirishima inquired.

"Sh- she's a f- friend!" Izuku stuttered out. Then Ritsuko pushed him lightly towards them.

"Don't be late," she warned before putting her helmet back on and driving off. Then Kaminari put an arm around his shoulders.

"Dude, you gotta tell us how you scored such a girl; her body was perfect!" he said.

"You should introduce us to her sometime!" Mina said excitedly. "I bet she's super cool!"

"She is," he admitted absentmindedly. It made his blush get worse.

"Let's get this flustered guy to class!" Kirishima said, taking the lead to the classroom.

When they got there, the first warning bell went off. Now he had five minutes to sit at his desk and wait. He saw that Uraraka was staring at him, but then she turned to continue chatting with Iida.

~~~

Izuku made his way to the front gate and saw Ritsuko waiting beside her bike. When she spotted him she waved him over. He quickly went over to her.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile. It made a faint smile appear on her face as well. Behind him, the same three from this morning approached them.

"Hello, beautiful!" Kaminari flirted. "How are you doing this fine evening? Oh, by the way, I'm Kaminari!"

"Oh, and I'm Ashido!" Mina said with excitement.

"I'm Kirishima!" the redhead said. Ritsuko stared at them before speaking.

"Can I call you Kami, you Shido, and you Kiri?" she asked, pointing to them in the respective order. They all nodded in agreement.

"'Kay, my name is Ritsuko. Now, I'm going to take Izuku home. Maybe I'll see you guys again," she said. Izuku saw Kaminari get a little jealous, but he smirked.

"Well well, Midoryia's got fairly close. She's calling him by his first name," he teased.

"Ooh, you might be onto something," Mina pointed out.

"I- It's nothing like that!" Izuku said with a mix of nervousness and defensiveness. The light blue haired girl stepped over to Izuku and pulled the boy to her bike. She handed him his helmet before getting on the bike and putting hers on. He got on the bike behind after placing his on his head.

The light blue haired girl wasted no time in getting the motorcycle moving. However, instead of going directly to his house, they stopped at a café that was on the way.

"Order whatever you want," she told him.

"W- wait, I can't do that!" he protested.

"Please, I got left over money from that race on Saturday. I want to use some to repay you for buying me things since we met," she explained. After thinking it over, he finally agreed. That being said, he ordered a coffee and a big chocolate chip cookie they were selling. Ritsuko ordered the same cookie, but a different drink. She paid for everything once they had their orders, and they went to a table that was outside. He saw her take a sip of her coffee before he did from his own.

"May I try yours?" she suddenly asked. Hesitantly, he slid his cup over to her. Ritsuko took the cup in her hand, making sure to keep her pinky off of it. After bringing it to her mouth, she took a small sip. Then she placed it down in front of him.

"It's pretty good," she said before taking another sip of her own. Izuku pouted a little and took hers when she was done drinking it. He put it his lips and tried her coffee. To him, he thought it tasted pretty good. When he was done, Izuku set the cup down in front of her.

"What kind is that?" he asked. He wanted to know so that way he could get one on his own time.

"It doesn't have a name. This café lets you make your own, I just tell them what's in it so they can make it," Ritsuko explained to him. He didn't go to this café very often, so he didn't know about that.

The forest haired teen nodded and took a sip of his drink. "Oh. Can you maybe write down the ingredients for the coffee. I really like it, and I kind of want to get it myself."

"Sure. I'm glad that you don't mind sharing either," she pointed out. It took him a second to registered what she said, and he was in the middle of drinking his coffee too. The thought of his lips being right where hers were made him blush. He quickly took the cup away from his mouth and set it down. Izuku looked to her and saw that she had that small smile again. Seeing it made him relax slightly, but his cheeks still remained pink.

"You get flustered too easily,"she told him.

"I- I don't mean to," he mumbled.

"Don't worry, I think it makes you look cute."

He blushed again. "Th- thanks?"

Things between them got quiet after that. They both finished the cookies and the coffees they got after a few minutes. It allowed them both to think.

 _'Thank you, Kaito,'_ Ritsuko thought. Using his advice, she was showing her emotions more, and she was opening up a bit too. One main reason she didn't express herself too much was because she hated being read like a book. It made her feel vulnerable when people could, and it made her uncomfortable. She didn't like seeming vulnerable because it made her feel weak, and she didn't want others to think of her as such. If there was one thing she learned from being involved with villains it was to never show weakness in front of others. Villains will take advantage of it with no hesitation. Once they are aware, they sink their claws in and never let go.

Ritsuko looked over to Izuku and saw that he was nervous. The girl guessed that the silence was beginning to make him a bit uncomfortable. To help him out to an extent, she decided to continue conversation. "Can I let you know something?" she asked. He nodded. "Your hair is really soft."

"Th- thanks," he stuttered.

"I wouldn't mind touching your hair again to be honest," she said.

"I wouldn't either," he mumbled quietly, her ears barely picking it up. She had the idea that he didn't intend for her to hear him, so she didn't say anything about it. Although, she did keep what he said in mind.

"I need you to know something," Ritsuko said, making him lift his head. "This will be the the last time I see you for a few days."

"Wh- what, why?!" Izuku sounded sad and confused. He became really worried for her all of a sudden.

"I told you yesterday at the park... about the prisoners they keep. I want to be with them for a few days to make sure they are as comfortable as they can be," she explained. He have her a nod.

"Alright, I understand that..." Izuku paused for a moment. "You know that I can help you, right? I can get you and Kaito out of there; the others too!"

"You don't have to; you will get hurt," the blue haired girl said as she stood up. "I'm going to go home now. Do you mind walking home?"

"No, not at all! When can we meet again?"

"I'll let you know, I have your phone number after all. If that fails then I can just drive to your house."

"Oh, okay, that works," Izuku told her. She began to walk away, but she looked over her shoulder for a moment.

"Don't do anything stupid," she warned before walking to her bike. He saw her get on the motorcycle and drive off.

Izuku waited a few minutes before getting to his feet and starting his walk home. As much as he wanted to spend more time with her, he was glad that she let him walk home alone. It let him have time to think. Mostly about her.

'How can I get her out of there?' he questioned himself. 'Maybe I can offer a place to stay so she doesn't need to go back. Kaito too. Although, what about the people trapped there?' The boy put a hand to his chin in thought. He went over several different ways he could get them out as he went down the sidewalk.

~~~

It was late at night now, and the girl was in her room and laying down on her bed. Her new phone was in her hand. Ritsuko learned quickly on how to use it thanks to Kaito. Then she realized that she never texted Izuku, so he didn't have her number yet. She opened his profile and pressed the text button.

 _Ritsuko: Hey_

It took a few minutes, but the boy eventually responded.

 _Izy: Who is this?_

 _Ritsuko: Ritsuko_

 _Izy: Oh how are you_

 _Ritsuko: Good. I just thought that I would text you so you had my number_

 _Izy: Thanks! I need to know something real quick. Its so i can get you and kaito out_

 _Ritsuko: What is it?_

 _Izy: Does anyone in the league know about your treehouse hideout? I was thinking that you could tell me where the league is and you two could stay there_

 _Ritsuko: Maybe_

Ritsuko left it at that. She placed her phone on the nightstand before standing up. The tall girl heard the cellular device go off after a few seconds, but she ignored it for now and went out into the hall and walked quietly. She stopped in front of a door and gently knocked.

"Come in," a voice said on the other side. Slowly, he pushed the door open and saw Kaito sitting on his bed. He was writing something down on a small notepad.

"What were you writing?" she inquired. The brunette turned his head to her.

"A list. I was going to go out and get some stuff. Do you want anything?"

"Oh, we're almost out of chocolate chip cookies. Also, if the sale isn't over, you should get that frosted cake we saw a days ago."

Kaito started writing quickly in his notepad, "Oh dang, that's right!" After he was done he turned so he was facing Ritsuko. "What did you come in here for?"

"Has Haze gotten suspicious yet? He never liked me leaving the hideout because he always assumed I was up to no good."

The brunette put the tip of his pen to his chin, "Haze has always been suspicious ever since you tried to leave the league last time. Geez, he got you in so much trouble then."

Ritsuko let out a sigh, a displeased expression on her face, "Don't remind me."

"Honestly, I don't know. I can never tell what Haze is thinking. If I were you, I'd be really careful from here on out; more than you already have been."

"Alright, thank you," she said with a nod before going to the door. Before exiting, she turned and said, "Keep an eye on Haze for me please." The older teen nodded his head, and the light blue haired one left the room.

When she got back in her room, she laid down and took the striped hyena stuff animal into her arms. The girl shoved her face into the stuffed animal with a smile. She was so grateful that Izuku had bought the hyena for her and that he was trying to get her and Kaito out of their situation. He was doing so much for her, and it made her really happy.

She hoped that nothing would happen to him for being so determined. All he wanted to do was help her.

 **Word Count: 2370**

 ** _~ Posted March 7, 2020_**


End file.
